


Switch to me

by Maiden22



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Brock is good bro, Can you tell?, I love him, Pokemon AU, Team Rocket is just as dumb, alternative universe, ash just wants a friend, brock literally came and slapped me in the face, but Nurse joy is a badass, but he means well, delia is a good mom, hes a dumb mouse baby, pikachu is done with everyone, pikachu is sensitive, pokemon!ash, princess mouse baby, professor oak can be a dick, sir rat bastard, switch au, this was perfect for him, trainer!pikachu, you cannot tell me that she didn't use her Piakchus to fight off people i mean come on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:13:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21929524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maiden22/pseuds/Maiden22
Summary: He nodded, allowing the professor to the nearest cabinet as he rummaged through papers and items. Pikachu tried to distract himself, glancing around the room and humming slightly. He could wait a few more minutes for his real starter, and not some cruel joke to his own-(A pokemon switch au, where Pikachu is the trainer and Ash is the pokemon)
Relationships: Hanako | Delia Ketchum & Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Ookido Yukinari-hakase | Professor Samuel Oak & Satoshi | Ash Ketchum, Satoshi | Ash Ketchum & Satoshi's Pikachu | Ash Ketchum's Pikachu
Comments: 127
Kudos: 212





	1. Starting a Journey

**Author's Note:**

> He nodded, allowing the professor to the nearest cabinet as he rummaged through papers and items. Pikachu tried to distract himself, glancing around the room and humming slightly. He could wait a few more minutes for his real starter, and not some cruel joke to his own-
> 
> thank you @Asteria11 and @StrawberryAngel on discord for helping me edit this!!

“ Honey!!!” A voice called out, ringing across the house. “Honey! Are you home?”

A boy woke up blearily, shoving his blanket above his face. Tousled blonde hair peeking out as he snuggled deeper into his bed. An alarm clock clicking softly by his side, reading 8:50.

The door to his room creaked open, an older woman with brown hair peeking into the room. Her face, while curious at first, quickly morphed into annoyance.

“ Honey!” She threw the door open, startling the boy enough to fall off the bed, a loud yelp echoing from his throat as he slid down the blanket.

Dark brown eyes blinked tiredly, widening slightly at the look of his mother’s face. Pursing his lips, he glanced around the room wearily, wincing at the sight of his clock before sheepishly grinning at her.

“ M-Morning mom.” He gulped, awkwardly waving at her.

“ Don’t morning me young man.” She marched over, pulling him to his feet. “You were supposed to be at the Professor's lab  _ thirty  _ minutes ago!”

He groaned, pouting at her before walking over to his desk and pulling out a shirt and a pair of pants.

“ Mom, I don’t even want to go for a Pokemon journey.” He pulled over his shirt, reaching for his pants. “Can’t I just...stay at the restaurant with you?”

He turned to look at her, yelping when she shoved a pair of socks at him. She gave him a fond look, before a sigh was eventually let out. He ducked his head, silently putting on his socks, then shoes as she began to talk.

“ Pikachu we talked about this.” She waved a hand, motioning to the poster his father had given him years ago. “One year is all we ask, as much as I want you to help me with the restaurant, I also don’t want to stop you from finding new avenues. Maybe you’ll like the trainer gig, and if not there are plenty of jobs out there that I have no doubt you’d enjoy.”

“ But I don’t even like Pokemon, how the heck am I supposed to raise a Pokemon if I don’t even want one!” Pikachu looked at her incredulously, blowing blonde hair away from his face.

She huffed a laugh, handing him his backpack.

“ You’ll figure it out, I know my baby boy wouldn’t do anything to harm his pokemon on purpose.” She pulled him close, giving him a pack against his forehead. “Now head over to the lab and I’ll meet you there in about ten minutes alright?”

He shouldered his backpack, pouting slightly but nodding his head regardless.

“ Alright Mama, I’ll see you there.” Pikachu let out a heavy sigh, walking downstairs and out the door without a look back.

It didn’t take long to get to the Professor’s lab, but by then the other three beginning trainers were walking down the stairs.

Pikachu scowled, eyes hardening at the sight of them. Blowing out a harsh breath, he opted to ignore the trio as he walked upstairs, it didn’t do much for him. 

“ Well, well, well, if it isn’t little bitty  _ Pikachu. _ ” An arrogant voice called out, followed by quiet laughter.

He rolled his eyes, letting out another heavy sigh before turning to the obnoxious kid standing before him.

He looked absolutely ridiculous; a purple long sleeved shirt, some ridiculous tight dark blue jeans and some casual converse.

While Pikachu couldn’t say much, even he was more prepared for traveling than the idiot.

“ What the hell do you want Gary,” He sneered, already debating on leaving.

Gary sneered back, tossing a pokeball up and down as he walked closer to Pikachu.

“ Well you see since you’re here.” He tossed his pokeball up. “How bout a battle, against the worlds soon to be strongest trainer and the worlds lamest being ever.”

Pikachu snarled, teeth gnashing.

“ I don’t even have a Pokemon yet you prick.” his fist shook in his grasp as he resisted the urge to punch the brunette.

“ Well you are  _ Pikachu,  _ I just figured you’d want a good fight is all, maybe I can catch my first pokemon now.” Gary stepped closer, knocking his shoulder harshly against Pikachu’s and nearly knocking the blonde boy down. “But how lame, who in the world would want a  _ Pikachu  _ of all pokemon.”

The boy continued walking, even as Pikachu felt the hot rush of shame color his face. He huffed angrily, flicking up the collar to his jacket before stomping up the stairs.

“ What an idiot,” he growled out, wiping away nonexistent tears.

He continued his trek up, stopping at the lab door. He felt a flurry of Butterfree’s swarm across his stomach, before he slowly knocked on the door.

_ Don't open the door, don’t open the door, don’t open the- _

“ Pikachu my boy! What a surprise to see you,” came a dry sarcastic tone as the door swung open.

_ DAMN IT! _

Pikachu looked up, staring into the eyes of an older man, whose entire posture screamed exhaustion. And if that didn’t, the pink slippers he wore, sure did. The professor was giving him a disappointed stare, which had him squirming in his shoes.

“ Good Morning, Professor Oak.” He waved his hand slowly. “How are you this fine morning?”

“ You’re late.” Oak sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Pikachu, I understand that this isn’t your ideal situation, but you still need to arrive  _ on time.” _

“ Sorry professor.” He ducked his head, looking at the floor.

“ Get inside, Pikachu.” The older man stepped back, his arms waving as he pushed the door open.

Pikachu walked in with his head hung low, wincing as the door swung closed behind him. The professor walked up beside him, leading him to a display of three pokeballs. Already, he knew something wasn’t right.

“ Go ahead and choose your Pokemon Pikachu.” Professor Oak waved a hand towards the display. “As you should know, you have the choice of a fire, water or grass starter.”

“ I’ll pick Charmander.” Pikachu murmured, “Fire is always good.”

But as he reached over to open the pokeball, it sprung open.

It was a Novelty Ball.

He felt his stomach churn unpleasantly, as a quick glance to Oak told him everything.

“ Charmander was given to a trainer who arrived early.” The man sounded nonchalant, picking up the Novelty pokeball and clicking it closed, before tossing it over his shoulder.

“ Squirtle? Bulbasaur?” He picked up both of them, they opened instantly, empty like Charmander’s.

“ Both of them, also, given to trainers who arrived on time,” Oak sighed, walking forward to place a hand on his shoulder.

He let both of the novelty pokeballs fall to the floor.

While he didn’t care for starting his own journey, did the Professor have to be so mean about it?

“ Couldn’t you have told me, they were just gone? Did you really have to set that up?” Pikachu looked away, glaring at the floor.

“ I do this every year to every trainer who is late.” Oak waved a hand. “it’s to show you that life is full of disappointments and being a trainer isn’t going to change that. You need to be firm in everything you do, and all the choices you make. One mistake, like waking up late, can lead to opportunities lost and eventual disappointment.”

Pikachu flinched, glancing up at the Professor, who sighed again and clicked a button. The pedestal of the three pokeballs pulled apart, a single pokeball rising up.

“ Here is your starter.” He waved a hand at the nondescript pokeball. “A professor from another region gave him to me so the last trainer could have a pokemon. Raise it well.”

Pikachu turned to glance at the professor, who was sorting through some papers just a bit away from them.

He let in a breathe, reaching over and plucking the pokeball off the pedestal. Already, he could tell that it was a real pokeball, the cool metallic rim chilling his fingers through his glove. The pokeball in all seemed heavier, and if Pikachu focused enough he could feel something shift within the ball.

He clicked the middle button. Sure enough, the pokeball flew open with ease, a red beam shot out as a small shape beginning to take form.

It was...

A Pikachu…

Pikachu felt his whole resolve fall, eyes wide as disbelief coiled in his chest.

Out of all the Pokemon he could have gotten, Professor Oak decided to be a smart ass and give him a Pikachu. As if his name and blonde hair wasn’t enough, now he had the actual Pokemon as a starter.

The small creature blinked slowly, shaking it’s head and chirping slightly. It looked odd for a Pikachu with dark – near black – fur shining off the light of the lab, odd tufts sticking out around its head and a single tuft in the middle of its forehead. Its cheek pouches a bright shade of blue, while long ears tipped with white. There were odd Z marks on its cheek pouches, but Pikachu was drawn in by warm amber eyes.

The Pikachu, whether it noticed him or not, rounded its body in full one-eighty, glancing around the room in amazement. Pikachu could finally see the flat edge of the Pikachu’s tail, and the two purple stripes that lined its (his) back.

“ Pika~” He cooed, glancing around the room in amazement.

And his eyes landed on Pikachu.

Pikachu hadn’t met many Pokemon, and the few Pokemon he did see were never so...perky.

But the mouse pokemon perked up at him, shrilling in delight as he pounced towards Pikachu. The boy stepped back, but the dark mouse didn’t seem to care as he began to purr, rubbing himself against Pikachu’s pant leg.

“ Oh dear-” Professor Oak popped up immediately, picking up the odd colored pokemon.

Pikachu glared at him, eyes twitching.

“ I know I was late but really?” He crossed his arms over his chest, cheeks puffing out almost comically. “A Pikachu, you had to take the shot? I think I’d rather wait for next week...”

“ Pikachu, my boy, this isn’t your starter,” Oak sighed, rubbing his face slightly. “My assistant must have confused the pokeballs, this Pikachu here is my recent study.”

The man walked away towards a long metal table, ignoring the squirming pikachu in his grasp. Pikachu followed behind him silently, still mad but easing up.

“ Your starter,  _ is _ a starter from another region, I’m unsure how the pokeballs were mixed.” He placed the black pikachu down, shooting the pokemon a look when the mouse shuffled closer to Pikachu. “I placed the other pokeball over here, let me grab it.”

He nodded, allowing the professor to the nearest cabinet as he rummaged through papers and items. Pikachu tried to distract himself, glancing around the room and humming slightly. He could wait a few more minutes for his  _ real  _ starter, and not some cruel joke to his own-

“ Pikachu?” He snapped his head towards the source of the noise, the tiny black Pikachu staring at him with wide brown eyes.

The Pikachu sat on his hind legs, waving and curling a paw at him, and it took a second for the new trainer to realize that the Pikachu was waving hello.

“ Professor, why does Pikachu look like that?” He raised a brow, cautiously waving back.

“ Pika!!!” the Pikachu cheered, jumping in a tight circle before facing Pikachu once more, his zigzag shaped tail wagging in excitement.

“ Ah, I have speculations, but the reason he looks like that is the basis of him being a shiny.” The professor walked forward with another pokeball in hand, giving Pikachu a look when the boy clenched his fist. “As for the tufts on his head, most Pokemon like Pikachu tend to have extra fur they shape to identify themselves.”

“ Aren’t shiny Pikachu’s a more golden color?” The Professor stepped back, looking at both Pikachu and the...Pikachu.

“ Most notably yes, but there is also no guarantee that shiny pokemon stay in one constant color, it's just one of the few documented.” Oak raised an eye as the Pikachu glanced at both humans. “However, you’ll be able to read all about the anomalies of this Pikachu once I have written a few of my studies, for now here is your starter.”

Pikachu smiled, relief flowing through his body as he reached out for the pokeball.

Except he couldn’t grab it.

The odd Pikachu jumped up and latched onto his arm, hissing at Oak and swatting at the pokeball. Pikachu stumbled back, the Pokemon not letting go even as he silently freaked out.

Professor Oak’s eyebrows raised in surprise, but instead of doing anything, he pocketed the pokeball and watched the odd Pikachu calm considerably.

“ Fascinating,” He whispered as the pokemon hopped onto the floor and next to Pikachu’s leg. “Pikachu, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid this Pikachu has chosen you as his trainer.”

“ Pika!” The Pikachu announced happily, grinning at Pikachu.

And like that, Pikachu felt as if the world was swept beneath his feet.

“ I know this isn’t ideal, but I can’t do anything about it.” He stepped forward, patting Pikachu on the arm. “If this Pikachu decides to follow you out of the lab while you have a starter the league will either deem it, me giving you two starter pokemon, or the officers will assume you are stealing them both. I can’t give you both Pokemon either as it is against the rules for me to give you two Pokemon at your starting journey.”

“ But I thought he was your research subject, I can’t-”

“ Even if he was, Pikachu, he simply will not stay without you here.” The professor sighed, looking up. “I’m very sorry for this, but I have no say in this matter, it’d be cruel of me to deny the Pokemon its trainer, and to be fair, you  _ did  _ choose him as a starter, even if it was a series of unfortunate circumstances.”

Pikachu stared wide-eyed at the professor, angrily clicking his jaw shut. The professor stayed silent, instead, holding out a pokedex to him.

“ This is your pokedex, you can use it to scan pokemon,” The man said, almost quietly. “I wish you luck in your journey.”

“ Fine!” He snarled, swiping the Pikachu’s pokeball and his pokedex before turning and storming out.

Pikachu didn’t bother waiting to see if his starter would follow, stomping down the stairs and clutching the pokeball tight in his grasp. His anger simmered slightly, as he saw his mom standing there with a banner held high.

“ Hi Mom,” he greeted, smiling weakly at her.

“ Oh sweetie what’s the matter?” She placed a hand on his cheek. “Where’s your starter?”

“ Pikachu!” The two glanced down at the black Pikachu cheerily smiling at them, tail wagging.

“ A...” His mom’s hand flew to her mouth in shock and surprise.

“ Yeah...” He sighed, holding out his pokeball to recall the Pikachu.

Except the mouse danced out of the way, screeching in delight as he dodged all the beams of light. His mother hummed.

“ Well, either I’m killing your father or Professor Oak.” She leaned down to coo at his pokemon. “But he doesn’t seem like a bad Pokemon either, Just promise you’ll try?”

“ I will Ma.” He chuckled, watching her step back.

“ Good luck dear, promise me you’ll call?” She turned to look at him, holding her arms out for a hug.

“ I will.” He reached over to hug her. “I promise.”

“ Pikachu?” he leaned back with a frustrated groan, face pinching in anger.

“ Alright, I guess I’m off, come on mouse.” The Pikachu perked up, glancing around before following close behind.

Pikachu found out rather quickly that the pokemon loved to crawl around, already losing him twice before they even hit the first route. Without a thought, he called the mouse forward and wrapped a laundry line around his waist, dragging the pokemon back before he could sprint off somewhere new.

He quickly debated on catching a Pokemon. A quick glance at Pikachu told them that he didn’t really want another, not with the mouse nearby…

He quickly came upon a more open clearing, there didn’t seem to be many, if any, Pokemon around so he figured resting there for a quick moment wouldn’t hurt.

“ Alright mouse,” He let his bag hit the floor, crouching to untie the laundry line. “I want you to stay right here, and I’ll be right over there, okay?"

He vaguely pointed to the other side of the road, directly across from the black Pikachu. The mouse peeked over, seemingly judging the distance before nodding enthusiastically. The mouse plopped down without command, wiggling his bottom paws as he sat there ready to wait. Pikachu gave the mouse an odd look, before huffing and turning away, dragging his bag to the other corner of the road, back facing his starter as he dug through his essentials.

He really wasn’t hungry but opted to eat a small nutrient bar before digging around a bit more. There was some generic pokemon food he was sure the mouse could eat. Right before he could drag it out he heard a small yelp of pain.

Turning quickly, the mouse was covering his head, still sitting as a Spearow pecked at him. Cawing almost obnoxiously as the mouse cried in pain.

“ You dumb mouse!” he called out, startling both pokemon as he stood up. “Use a move and get rid of it!”

The Spearow screeched in anger, flying a bit higher and continuing its assault on the black pokemon. The Pikachu on the other hand, looked at him with wide eyes, eyes searching the ground before he screeched, fur puffing up dramatically.

Except, instead of electricity, out came a blue wave that sent Spearow careening back. The Pokemon didn’t even look injured, just disgruntled as it righted itself midair.

“ Oh sh- mouse get over here!” Pikachu cried, packing up everything he had.

“ SPEAROW!” came a deafening screech, forcing both Pokemon and human to cover their ears in agony.

Despite the ringing in his ears, Pikachu could hear the faint return calls, glancing around in horror as more Spearow began to pop up everywhere. With a heavy heart, he stepped back, little by little before he was running away in a dead sprint, his starter on his heels as the birds screeched at them.

Except the mouse was a step behind him.

“ Hurry it up!” Pikachu shrieked, yelping when a sharp beak dug into his arm. “Come on you dumb mouse, run faster!!”

“ Pika!” the mouse yelped, panting heavily before glancing back.

Pikachu made the mistake of following, blanching instantly at the swarm closing in on them. If they caught up…

“ PIKA!” He turned to the mouse, a scream echoing out of his throat as the small pokemon rammed into his stomach, sending them both careening off the side.

Instead of the harsh cold ground to crash into, they kept falling.

“ Kachu!” He turned to the Pikachu, who comically took a deep breath and held it in. In his panic, Pikachu followed along, screwing his eyes shut.

And his back hit the water.

The force enough nearly made him scream, but the water quickly surrounding his face made him hold it in. it was painful, and now both his back and stomach ached in pain.

He figured he was in a stream, as soon enough he felt them both be dragged along with the current, too in shock to even try to swim to the surface. He could feel his pokemons tiny paws hold onto his shirt for dear life, still clinging even after Pikachu wrapped his arms around him.

Something clung to his shirt, pinching his skin and stopping him from flowing with the current. Pikachu gasped, mouth opening wide before a rush of water entered his lungs. He tried coughing, but being under water did him no favors.

The tugging became stronger, yanking him up and out of the stream.

“ Oh my god, are you okay?” a girl’s voice echoed around the clearing.

Pikachu didn’t bother to answer, tears rushing to his eyes as he scrambled to his knees to cough of the water in his lungs. He let out a tiny sob, holding his throat before turning.

His mouse, his dumb mouse, where was-

His Pikachu wasn’t too far off the side, on his stomach and spitting up too much water for an electric type. The mouse was shaking, and wheezing heavily, his breathing slowing down as the water drained out of his stomach.

“ YOU DUMB MOUSE,” He shouted, fear gripping at his throat as he scrambled to his starter.

A girl stepped in front of him, glaring furiously. She had tan skin, ginger hair a beacon to the eyes. She growled, almost daring him to come closer but he easily shoved her away. He landed right beside his starter, picking him up gently and sobbing. He may not have liked Pokemon, or his starter, but he never wanted this to happen.

Pikachu quickly stands up, ignoring his shaky legs as he glances quickly around the area. Finally he spotted the girl from before, who was holding a pokeball up at him for some reason or another.

“ You!” he barked, startling her enough that she nearly dropped her pokeball. “Where’s the nearest Pokemon center?!”

She looks at him cautiously, glancing at him up and down.

“ I don’t have time for this lady!” He screeches, stomping his foot down. “MY STARTER IS HURT PLEASE JUST TELL ME WHERE!”

She stepped back in shock and points behind him, silent at first.

“ Head that way, there’s a road that will take you to the Pokecenter.” She dropped her hand. “But the walk is about 3 hours.”

Another sob of disbelief bubbled in his throat as he glanced around wildly. He had no intention of walking; he was going to sprint there if his life depended on it. But he saw a bike leaning against a tree, almost unnoticeable in the shade but now…

He rushed over, placing his Pikachu in the basket as he hopped on without a thought.

“ I’M BORROWING THIS!” He kicked off the stand and began to peddle, ignoring shaky legs as he picked up speed.

He also ignored her shrieks of rage as he got further and further away from the stream.

Pikachu peddled fast until he heard the unmistakable caws of the birds he thought they ditched. Glancing back, he could see the swarm of Spearow still following them, intending on catching up.

With another obstacle rising, Pikachu peddled even harder than before, standing up to gain some sort of traction.

It didn’t help when the road curved to a tall hill. He huffed, shrieking as beaks and talons attacked his arms and legs, one Spearow going so far as to peck him on the head. He reached the top of the hill, not bothering to rest as he launched both of them down, keeping a hand over his mouth as he struggled to keep in line with the road as they sped down the hill.

“ SPEAROW!”

He turned back, just in time to see a Spearow flapping its wings harshly.

A strong gust of wind followed, knocking the bike up and throwing them down the rest of the way to the bottom of the hill.

Pikachu hissed in pain, tucking his head before he slammed stomach first into the ground. The previously forgotten pain in his stomach tripling.

He laid there wheezing slightly before scrambling up, reaching for his starter as rain began to drizzle from above.

“ You stupid dumb mouse.” Pikachu huffed uneasily, watching as his starter blearily opened his amber eyes. “I can’t...you're gonna be fine okay?”

He glanced up, watching as the Spearows crowed obnoxiously, already circling the area and ready to dive down.

That...that would kill them.

Tears welled up in the corner of his eyes, but he blinked back tears and laid his backpack over his pokemon.

The black pokemon perked up, half-lidded eyes looking at him curiously.

“ Just stay under my bag, and hopefully they’ll forget you’re here.” Pikachu reached over, stroking his Pokemon's cheek, trying to ignore the soft coo that followed. “I’m gonna...I’m gonna save you.”

The Pikachu’s eyes widened, perking up as Pikachu stood up and backed away, turning to face the Spearows with his shoulders set and chin held high. He took a step forward, stretching his arms out to protect his Pokemon, for the first, and probably last time as well.

The Spearow flapped their wings, staying in place as their cawing died down. Pikachu could almost feel the murderous glee echoing their bodies.

“ LISTEN HERE SPEAROW,” He screamed, forcing all of his strength and confidence into his voice. “I DIDN’T COME HERE TO BE A TRAINER, I DIDN’T CROSS PATHS WITH YOU CAUSE I WANTED TO BE ONE. BUT YOU HURT MY DUMB POKEMON. AND WHILE I DIDN’T EVEN WANT HIM AT FIRST, HE’S MINE NOW.”

He paused, breathing heavily. His arms and legs began to shake, whether it be from the pain or the fear he felt, he couldn’t tell.

“ YOU HURT MY POKEMON,” They were growing impatient, flying up a little higher to dive at him. “AND I WON’T LET YOU DO IT ANYMORE!”

Like a switch they screeched as one, the Spearow flying down ready to maim. Talons were brought out as they closed in, ignoring the pounding of the rain which was falling heavier with every second.

Pikachu didn’t break out of his stance, simply closing his eyes and waiting for the inevitable.

That is, until he felt a small body crawl up his back.

His eyes snapped open, mouth dropping in shock as his Pikachu crawled to the corner of his arm and jumped, launching himself towards the incoming Spearow.

“ PIKA!” The mouse screamed, a blue energy forming around his body, building up as the Spearow flew towards him.

Pikachu flinched when a flash of lightning crashed down, eyes wide in disbelief as the electricity crackled against his starter. The bright flash of yellow was overtaken quickly by blue, Pikachu in the dead center.

“ PIKACHU!” the mouse screamed, a furious electric blue shooting out and hitting every Spearow near him.

The force of the electric type move sent Pikachu flying back, slamming him onto the ground again. The pain became unbearable, and before he knew it he was unconscious.

When Pikachu awoke, he couldn’t tell how much time passed, only that the rain had stopped and he could feel the warmth of the sun hitting his arms. He blinked slowly, everything becoming sluggish.

Beside him laid his starter, who also seemed to be waking up. Bruises and scratches littered his tiny body, but the mouse managed a smile.

“ Chu~.” the mouse squeaked, wiggling his arms slightly.

Pikachu let out a small huff of laughter, closing his eyes for a second.

Somehow...someway they were fine.

“ You know...for a dumb mouse,” Pikachu reached over, rubbing the mouse’s blue cheek. “I’m glad you're my friend..”

“ Chaa.” the mouse cooed, letting his head rest on the ground, closing his eyes.

Pikachu rose unsteadily, swaying heavily as he tried to gain his balance. He picked up his mouse first, glancing around before eventually grabbing his bag, swinging it until it rested on his back. He winced as his bag slammed against his back, reminding him of the bruise he had.

With another glance around, he found the road, already able to tell which direction he was supposed to head to.

He glanced around one more time, ignoring the twitching Spearow.

“ Thank you,” He whispered to his friend, giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead.

The mouse giggled, smiling at him.

There was a caw above them, almost majestic in it’s cry. Regardless both froze, glancing around before looking up.

There was a golden bird flying overhead, too far to really make out what it was supposed to be. As it flew, it left a rainbow trail for all to see.

Pikachu wordlessly dug out for his pokedex, opening it and pointing it at the flying bird.

“ **_Some Pokemon have yet to be discovered._ ** ” the pokedex beeped, so with a shrug Pikachu carelessly let it fall back in his pocket.

“ Alright bud.” He whispered, walking towards the road. “To the Pokecenter.”

His Pikachu cheered quietly, snuggling into his arms but staying awake.

He smiled down, rubbing the back of his Pokemon's ear. He felt something odd, pulling back and finding soot on his hand. With a glance down, he blinked slowly.

“ Hey buddy, how do you like the name Ash?”


	2. To the Pokemon Center

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Okay, PokeCenter we go." Pikachu peaked back up, just in time to see the next city falling into view, relief instantly flooding his body. "Oh thank Mew."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a new chapter to.... one of my things. 
> 
> Even in Quarantine i cant get my act together lol.

Pikachu groaned, dragging his bruising body behind him with Ash still tightly curled in his arms.

The pokemon seemed to relax, albeit barely and just uselessly stared up at him. Eyes half lidded and falling.

"You alright Ash?" Pikachu hummed, rearranging his grip. "Anything still hurting, or is it just, mleh, now?"

Ash wriggled slightly, bringing up his paw and holding up two fingers. The mouse seemed content to just hum softly, either ignoring or numb to the copious amounts of injuries on his tiny body, before letting his arm fall back down.

"Okay, PokeCenter we go." Pikachu peaked back up, just in time to see the next city falling into view, relief instantly flooding his body. "Oh thank Mew."

He had been walking for about 30 minutes. His legs were numb and aching, and he was certain the bruises and cuts on his face were going to ache for days on end. Still, Pikachu picked up the pace, going from a slight Speed walk into a soft jog, careful to not jostle Ash too much. His entire body screamed in pain, and Ash mewled slightly every 3 steps.

But that didn't matter, the Pokecenter was in sight, and all he had to do was-

"Hold it!"

DAMNED MEW TO HELL

Pikachu turned swiftly, tightening his hold on his starter as an Officer peaked out of a building. She stood tall, Turquoise hair peeking down her Officer hat as she stood in front of him.

He shook in his place, not really registering if it was from fear or exhaustion. Ash whined slightly, and he loosened his hold, glancing down at his pokemon before the Officer.

"May I ask where you're taking that pokemon young man." The Officer glared, turquoise eyes roaming their bruised bodies. "And why is it out of its pokeball?"

Pikachu bit back a sarcastic remark, instead focusing on the thrumming pain in his arms and the way Ash's breathing was a bit too low-

"This is my pokemon, I'm taking him to the pokemon center!" Pikachu nearly barked. "He's not in his pokeball because I don't know if it's safe for him with all these injuries!"

It was a lie, Pikachu knew that Ash would be just as safe in the pokeball as he was in his arms.

But…

"Then prove it, I need some identification, young man." She held out her hand, almost as if waiting for him to just slap it there.

"ID?" He blanched. "I-I don't have my ID on me, I left it home, oh sh- ah-"

She glared harder, slowly crawling forward as if she was going to pounce on him. Pikachu stood still, shrinking into his shoulders and wary of the Office that was mere inches from his face.

Involuntary tears sprung to his eyes, but he made no move to wipe them, trying his hardest to even out his breathing that was steadily trying to pick up.

"Miss please, I really just want to get my Pikachu safe, I'm just starting out, I don't want to lose him so-"

"Do you have a Pokedex?" She cut him off.

He stuttered, shakily reaching into his pocket to bring out the red device the Professor gave to him hours earlier.

She gently plucked it from his hands, snapping it open and fiddling with it ever so slightly. They stood there for a tense minute, the Officer’s eyes darting up to stare at him for a second before continuing with the pokedex.

Finally, the Dex softly glowed, the familiar animatronic voice ringing out.

" _ Hello, I am Dexter, Pokedex to Pikachu Ketchum. Pikachu is a beginning trainer from Pallet town, his regional professor is Samuel Oak. His Starter Pokemon is a Pikachu nicknamed Ash." _

Pikachu started slightly, eyes wide at the information it rattled off.

Before he could say a word, The officer nodded, clicking the Dex off and handing it back to him.

"Alright Pikachu-" He twitched at the slight drawl in her voice. "Can you tell me why you're so banged up?"

He swallowed down the thick feeling in his throat, unconsciously bringing Ash closer to his chest.

"On route one we encountered some Spearow and -"

"Spearow flock, son of a-" she cut him off roughly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Alright then, I'm going to personally take you to the pokecenter, Mew knows what those birds have done."

She moved back, rounding around her little Officer Shack to reveal a motorcycle. The ones you could find in big cities, with a small passenger cart off the side. The Officer gave him a raised eyebrow, waving it to the passenger cart before hopping in herself.

"Thank you.." He bowed slightly, scrambling in.

She revved the engine and sped off. There was no lead in to the speed, she floored it the moment he slapped his seatbelt on, the movement jostling the burning sensation in his arms. His head began to spin, his hair whipping wildly before he curled in, protecting Ash from the wind and in a feeble attempt to gain his bearings. The movement of the cart was harsh, every other turn seemed to whip their bodies around.

The side cart jerked suddenly, slamming him and his starter against the side. He felt all his bruises flare up, biting back a scream as he curled around his pokemon in a desperate attempt to stay in the cart.

The entire vehicle slowed to a stop, the steady thrum of the engine fading away into silence.

Pikachu could vaguely hear the sounds of people talking, but he was too busy trying not to vomit to really pay attention. Small spots danced across his vision, fading quickly and easily. Ash was staring at him tiredly, waving a paw and patting his face. He closed his eyes, breathing through his nose as his nausea faded, finally focusing on the sounds around him.

“Jenny, we have a Driveway, you know this!” The nurse behind the counter huffed, amrs firmly planted against her hips. “Please use it next time.”

The officer shrugged sheepishly, looking down at Pikachu and waving at him casually. He peeked his head up, just in time to catch the Nurse giving him a concerned look, before turning a sharp unamused glare towards Jenny.

“Sorry Joy, we have a pokemon emergency.” The Officer quickly motioned for Pikachu to move, looking as he struggled to get out of the side cart. “Another Spearow Incident, those damned birds haven’t eased up in the slightest.”

Pikachu stumbled his way out of the cart, trying his hardest to ignore the way his legs begged to cave in. He felt himself stumbled, steadying himself as quickly as possible before heading over to the Nurse. As gently as possible, he laid Ash down on the counter, being careful of his head and the bruises on his back. The nurse blinked in shock at his pokemon, but he didn’t really mind as he focused on the suddenly sleeping pokemon.

“Ash, we’re at the center, wake up.” The mouse whined, blinking blearily at him as he poked an unbruised part of his body.

Ash glanced around the center, brown eyes darting to the clean white walls, before glancing back at his trainer. With a tiny paw, he placed his paw above Pikachu’s own hand, eyes glowing in tired concern as a small chirrup echoed his throat.

Pikachu blinked back tears, feeling his throat begin to constrict.

The Nurse coughed, and Pikachu stepped back slightly to look up at her, trying his hardest to not notice how Ash’s tiny paw tried to keep him close with a small tug.

She looked a lot less shocked, instead, gently pushing Pikachu's hand away and looking over Ash. The small pokemon looked uncomfortable, even semi-conscious, whining slightly and yipping when she poked a particularly bad spot.

“Okay, it looks like he has some small cuts and bruises from the Spearow's claws and beaks, however I also notice heavier bruises and electrical burns, was there anything else that happened that I should be aware of?” The nurse’s glare wasn’t sharp, but it made Pikachu shrink in.

“Neh… Ah, sometime- when we were running away- we fell down a waterfall, then after we got out we got caught in the middle of a thunderstorm.” Pikachu scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Ash jumped onto my shoulder to fry the Spearow when a lightning bolt struck down… I couldn't see all that well but I think Ash was in the middle of it.”

“Do you have any electrical scars?”

Instantly, he looked down his arms to check, there were a few scorches here and there and an ugly red mark trailing up his arm. Carefully, he lifted his arm up and pointed at the mark questioningly.

“I think this one, I didn't really feel it to begin with…” The Nurse looked away nodding.

“Chansey!” She called, reaching beneath the counter to wrap a small white blanket around Ash’s Body.

A large plump pink pokemon came out, spreading small stumpy arms out happily with a cheer. The pokemon had an apron around its chest and some tiny nurse hat on its head.

“Chansey!” The Pokemon cheered, bowing at Pikachu before turning to stare at Nurse Joy.

“Chansey, please bring a small pokemon stretcher out, we’re taking this little guy into the emergency care unit.” The Chansey’s happy face fell into a serious look, nodding as it raced off to bring in a stretcher.

“Emergency!?” Pikachu’s entire body spazzed, eyes searching for comfort in the Nurse putting on gloves just as Chansey raced back with a small stretcher.

“Haih.” She nodded, gently lifting Ash from the counter to the stretcher. “I need to make sure that there isn’t any water in his lungs. Neither of you drowned, or were close, it sounds like, but since your Pikachu is a lot smaller than normal, there’s a chance that he inhaled quite a bit more. This is just a precaution. We will see you shortly.”

And with a nod, the Nurse raced off to the emergency unit, ignoring the wide eyed beginning trainer that shook with terror. He stayed, rooted to his spot as he watched the emergency light blink on. Staring at the light as uncomfortable waves started to bubble beneath his skin.

With a quick breath, Pikachu forced his entire body to relax, gently scratching at his upper arms to bring him back to reality. Drawing his eyes away from the double doors, he began to wander for a few seconds, unsure of what to do for himself. His eyes quickly found the walled phones just on the side of the emergency center, empty with screensavers bouncing around the video screen.

With a wiggle to shake off his nerves, Pikachu moved towards them, wincing as his legs screamed in agony with every heavy step. Pulling down the phone on the wall and carefully typing in numbers he remembered vaguely. He had to pause for a second, fingers hovering over the call button.

For a moment, Pikachu felt wary, pulling his hand back to hover close to his chest. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and led his hand back to the button, pushing it unnecessarily long and hard before dropping his hand and accidentally rapping his knuckles against the cool metal table just beneath the phone.

The phone rang unpleasantly in his ear, slow, long rings that just seemed to drag on from seconds to hours. His stomach churned, the loud buzzing making him wish the other person could just-

“Hello, this is the Ketchum residence, Delia speaking!”

-pick up!

“Hi mom,” Pikachu smiled weakly, leaning forward and resting his body against the tiny counter before him.

“Pikachu!” He could hear His mother scramble, her picture appearing on screen.

She paused, glancing up and down before staring at him,with a bright smile. Every movemnt seemed a bit disjointed, as if the camera couldn’t keep up with her movements, fuzzy squares appearing across the screen, trying to hold up a connection.

“Honey! Where are you? Is everything alright?” Her head lifted up, as if she were trying to peak over his shoulder.

He felt his stomach tug unpleasantly, vividly reminding him of the emergency room just a few feet away.

“Ah...I'm uh, I'm in Viridian City.” Piakchu waved a hand vaguely behind him. “In fact, in the Viridian Pokecenter.”

“Oh, you already made it to Viridian city, you’re father would be so proud!” His mother seemed to wiggle in her chair, obviously giddy. “You know it took me and your father four days to get there.”

He’s entire body shuddered uncomfortably, this time noticed by his mother who gave him a concerned look. Her look turned a little more forceful as she squinted and probably began noticing a few things on him. Vaguely, Pikachu wondered why she couldn't see the bruises or red marks on his arms, and instead opted to look away.

“Pikachu...Is everything alright?” He wiggled again, before sinking and shaking his head no.

“No mom, everything… Everything sucks!” He bit out, finally feeling the tears prick at the corners of his eyes and slowly fall down his face.

His mother shot up in alarm, calling out to him as he stubbornly wiped his face. He tried his best to breathe in easily, the thick feeling tightening his throat and giving him the need to cough. Pikachu quickly took a sharp breath, looking at his mother and trying his hardest to ignore the way his eyes warmed up.

"We just…" He hiccuped, leaning on the phone. "We just had a really rough start, Mama. I feel like a drowning Pidgey."

There was a soft look in her eye as she relaxed slightly. She stood quiet, letting him regain his thoughts for a moment. Finally, his mother let out a slow breathe, biting the edge of her lip before smiling at him sadly.

"Do you want to come back home? It sounds like the trainer's life isn't shaping as well as I thought it could." She gave a small chuckle. "Honey, I'm sorry, I really thought you would have fun out there."

He blinked, eyes darting to the emergency room where they were helping his little partner out. The dumb mouse that, even when his trainer didnt like him, strived to make sure both were okay. From slamming him into the waterfall, making sure he held his breath, and even shocking that last bit of Spearow.

Through thick and thin that Mouse had saved his life time and time again.

And this was only the first day.

"I think I want to try out the trainer gig a bit more." Pikachu shuffled in his spot, turning back to face his mom. "I mean… it's my first day, and yeah it sucked but I didnt even get a chance to really bond with my pokemon or even catch one."

His mother looked delighted, a spark appearing in her eye.

"Oh honey you got along with your- eh- Pikachu?" Her face fell into a Forced smile, her eyes blanking for a second before she blinked owlishly.

Pikachu laughed, leaning back.

"Yeah, me and him came to an understanding." He rubbed his cheek. "Actually, I nicknamed him Ash, it would feel really weird to try and keep calling him Pikachu if we battled…"

She laughed with him.

“First of all young man, it's him and I.” She mocked pointing a finger at him as he groaned. “And Second of all, I don’t think that would matter, if someone else had a Pikachu in battle they’d still be calling your name.”

Pikachu felt his eyes widen for a second, eyes darting back and forth as he tried to make sense of what she said. He suddenly felt twenty times more tired, his groan growing louder. His mother chuckled.

“Oh yeah, you can blame your father for that one, I’ll be sure to remind him that his son wants to have a talk.” His mother grinned, the screen freezing for a second before she was shown leaning back in her own chair. “it’s getting pretty late honey, you should get some proper rest okay?”

Pikachu nodded, holding a hand close to his chest.

“Yeah,” He kissed the palm of his hand and waved it towards her. “Night Mama.”

“Night Sweetheart.” She repeated the action, smiling one last time before the screen went dark.

He stared silently at the black screen, seeing his reflection staring back at him before gently placing the phone back in its proper place.

With a step back, Pikachu stretched his arms arching as he felt the bones in his back crack slightly. His body still ached, but not as bad as earlier.

Just as he was about to stretch out his legs the phone in front of him rang. Blinking, Pikachu glanced around trying to find someone who would answer. Quietly he realized he was alone in the lobby, so with quiet hesitation he reached over to grab the phone. Waiting, as the screen struggled to light up before cautiously answering.

"Hello?"

Instantly, he saw the back of someone's head, graying hair and a white lab coat. Tilting his head, his eyes scrunched up, trying to figure out who this was and why they were facing away from him.

"Pikachu, my boy! I heard you're in Viridian city!" The man laughed. "How goes your journey?"

Pikachu blinked, leaning closer to the screen. He knew that voice-

"Professor?" The man threw his arms up in welcome, though it looks a bit odd from behind.

"Of course it's me, Can't you recognize your Professor?"

Pikachu's face fell in disbelief, his eyebrow twitching slightly.

"No, I generally don't pay attention to the back of people's head, it's a hard way to recognize someone, ya know?"

The professor spazzed a bit, working on turning around and quickly facing him like nothing ever happened. The professor pursed his lips slightly, before a cheeky grin appeared on his face. Pikachu squinted at him, noticing how the video looked much crisper then the video call with his mother.

"Well there you are!" Pikachu gave him a deadpan stare even as the renown professor continued on like nothing happened. "You look like you've been dragged through a Beedrill's nest, my boy, what in the world happened."

Pikachu reeled back, an offended look in his eye as he scoffed. Professor Oak raised a single brow forcing Pikachu to realize that, yes, he did look like shit. With a heavy sigh, he waved to the red mark and bruises on his right arm.

"Well the Spearow on route one-" Pikachu was abruptly cut off by a tired sigh from the professor, who looked suddenly annoyed.

"Ah yes, as far as I'm aware that some trainers have been egging and irritating the already irritable bird flock, I do hope you and your Pikachu are fine." before Pikachu could open his mouth the professor gained a sly grin. "Now that I think about it, both of you side by side could be called Pikachu squared!"

Pikachu let out a heavy irritated sigh, leaning back to look up at the ceiling and contemplating all his life choices. Out of all the Professors that were surely out there. He had to pick the doofy one that interrupted him every seventh sentence.

Hadn’t he been a hardass to him earlier today?!

"I named him Ash by the way." Pikachu grumbled, staring back at the professor before dramatically waving his left hand in the air. "Is there a reason you called?"

The Professor hummed, tilting his head up as if thinking. The young trainer was sure the professor had nothing but empty thoughts when talking to real people.

"Nope!" He smiled cheerily, ignoring Pikachu's incredulous stare. "I called to see if you caught a pokemon yet? I bet my grandson a thousand pokedollars that you would have one by Viridian!"

"That's a reason to call Professor!" Pikachu bit back the growl before calming slightly. "And no, I didn't, I spent most of my time running from the rat birds with wings."

The professor opened his mouth, probably to tell him something not important, but Pikachu slammed a fist down on the tiny table.

"No! I can't even call them rats with wings! I have a dumb Mouse-Rat baby and he is absolutely precious! They are spawns of Hell I tell you!" Pikachu glared a growl forming on his lips. “Next time I see one I swear to you that i'm drop kicking it all the way to your lab. You’ll see that spawn of hell slammed against your front window!”

Professor Oak blinked for a second, momentarily surprised by his harsh tone, before he burst into near hysterical laughter, sputtering about recordings and what not. Pikachu glared at him, unamused by his laughing fit. Wheezing slightly, the Professor waved at Pikachu.

"I see that you and your pi- your Ash, have gotten along remarkably well." the Professor grinned, shooting him a finger gun. "Alright then, I'll leave you be. Goodbye!"

"Wha-" the screen went black and Pikachu was forced to stare at his own reflection for a second.

He blinked owlishly, carefully putting the phone back in its rightful place. He wondered why he got this Professor of all Professors. Surely there were some out there that wouldn’t be so doofy, not to mention the man's horrible taste in anything. There had to have been a professor out there that wouldn’t have misplaced his starter and given him a Pika-

Instantly, Piakchu’s eyes were drawn to the double doors of the emergency room, where the small light still lit up brightly. He stayed staring, for a few minutes. Maybe ten minutes or half an hour, but time passed rather slowly before he heard the sounds of the front door opening. Pikachu didn’t dare turn, afraid that the light would turn off and he’d miss his partner being escorted out.

He was startled out of his reverie when he felt a hand touching his shoulder, the previously unknown bruising on his arm flared up angrily, causing him to hiss and yank his arm away. Pikachu turned to see the red haired girl from the river holding up something that vaguely looked like a bike. She seemed angry, face beat red and showing off the freckles on her face, while blue eyes pierced into his own.

"YOU!" She bellowed despite the distance between them. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!?"

Pikachu winced back, gritting his teeth at her shriek.

"Me!? What the hell are you talking about!?" Pikachu grimaced, rubbing his ear gently.

With an angry grunt, she hefted the bike over her shoulder and slammed it onto the floor, the front wheel popping off and spinning feebly in the center. She waved at it, and Pikachu took note of the burnt metal and charred look.

"YOU FRIED MY BIKE AFTER STEALING IT!" She lurched forward, holding a fist threateningly towards his direction. "YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS, YOU AND YOUR WEIRD POKEMON!"

"My weird pOKEMON WAS FUCKING INJURED YOU IDIOT!" He spat back, voice rising to match her scream. "YOU’RE MORE WORRIED ABOUT A REPLACEABLE BIKE VERSUS THE LIFE OF MY POKEMON ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?"

Her face fell and Pikachu felt the curl of satisfaction rear into his stomach. Or maybe it was dread from the reminder that his partner was in the Emergency unit.

"Your… How's it doing?" Her voice fell softly, as if she was really worried. “Is it okay?”

He glared at her for a few seconds, dragging his eyesight back to the door. Instantly he felt his entire posture sag, and while Pikachu couldn't be certain how long he'd been waiting, he hoped it wasn't long.

"I don't know, " He admitted softly, walking forward to sit at the nearest chair. "I hope so…"

She didn't move from her spot for quite a bit, shuffling in place for a bit as she picked at her nails. Soon enough, she rounded his field of view and sat beside him, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. At first she ignored him, staring ahead as he stared at the light above the double doors.

"My name's Misty." She hummed, tapping her hands together as she dragged his attention. "I'm sorry about your pokemon, honestly, but you gotta understand how it looks in my eyes."

Pikachu shrugged, leaning back to the point his head rested on the backrest of the chair and his legs sprawled out to make sure he stayed in place. They began to throb slightly, releasing tension he didn't even know was building in his calves. Misty glanced at his relaxed stance, nearly rolling her eyes before pausing and staring at him from the corner of her eye.

"I don't care honestly. You can think what you want but I was saving my pokemon." He gingerly took out his pokedex from his pocket, idly fingering the corners of the device. "I am sorry about your bike, but my partner doesn't know many, if any electrical attacks, so we couldn't have fried your bike."

He tried to think, did Ash know any? All he did was that weird blue thing and that's all. Besides, if Ash had an electric attack, he’d use them against the Spearow...right?

"We did get caught in the thunderstorm though, maybe it got hit when the Spearow attacked us." Pikachu flipped the pokedex in his hand, once, twice- she looked at him. "Maybe a stray lightning bolt, my buddy almost got hit by one."

But he did...Right? Wasn't that the whole blue thing? Isn't that how he got the burns on his arms?

She snorted, bringing him back to some lucid reality. Her ginger hair swaying as she leaned back.

"I still expect you to pay me back." Misty hummed, giving him a side glance as she raised her hand, probably to stop him from saying something. "I know what happened, and I truly am sorry, but that was my property and my only reliable source of transportation. I don't expect you to pay it back immediately, especially if you're a beginning trainer. But I don't exactly trust you'll ever pay me back, so I'm following you until you do."

His face twisted, eyes alighting in anger as he reeled up to talk to her.

And they both heard the ring of the center.

Dun dun, dun-dun Dun!

A quick glance showed both the Nurse and the Chansey walking by, slightly exhausted but satisfied. With them they rolled a stretcher, with a tiny black fur ball curled in the center.

If Pikachu didn't know any better, he'd wonder what it was

"Ash!" he called out happily, darting out of his seat and towards the stretcher

Instantly the fur ball moved, a tiny head poking up. Brown eyes stared at him, bleary eyed for a second before excitedly hopping up.

"Pikachu!" Ash squealed, reaching out towards his trainer with tiny grabby paws.

Before Pikachu could grab onto him, he was stopped by the nurse, who held a gentle hand out with an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry about that Mr. Ketchum." Nurse Joy then waved a hand towards the small gray box resting on the stretcher. "It seems that your… Ash- was really depleted on his Electricity. It won't take long for him to recharge, but I suggest you not move him around to make sure the wires stay in place."

Before Pikachu could do anything, the small mouse sagged, bright blue tears coming to his eyes, loud sobs quickly following as it rang through the center. The sound startled Pikachu, making him take a step back in confusion before he heard the tell tale signs of someone falling. A quick glance showed Misty quickly rising from the ground, staring wide eyed at his starter.

A quick glance at the Nurse just showed him how tired she looked. She waved a hand at her pokemon, a tired sigh echoing her throat. Her Chansey quickly reached over and gently bopped the mouse's head, the yells growing a touch bit louder before another bap had him quiet and chittering.

No tears marred the mouse's face, but he definitely looked sad.

"Your Pikachu doesn't respond well to being told no." Joy shook her head, exasperated. "If I didn't know any better I would think he was a newly hatched."

Ash pouted further, dipping his head low. The nurse again rolled her eyes, shooting the mouse a  _ really  _ look before turning back to the blonde-headed trainer.

"Neh, he should stay like this for at least another hour." she wiggled the box on the stretcher slightly. "It's best he stays in place, he can't sleep with this overnight, so I'll check back in an hour or two."

Pikachu nodded, leaning down to lean on the stretcher. Ash gave him a curious look, gently pushing forward and nuzzling their noses together.

"Piiiiichu!" Ash cooed, tiny paws gripping at his shirt and ready to climb.

With a small laugh, the trainer grabbed Ash's tiny paws as gently as possible and placed them back on the stretcher. Ash shot him a betrayed look, ears falling flat.

"Ash, you gotta stay still so you can get all better." Pikachu curled his fingers around his partner's cheek, gently scratching beneath his chin. "It won't be long bud, okay?"

Ash smiled, ears perking slightly as he nodded. The nurse gave a small huff of laughter and disappeared behind the desk. Misty popped up, just barely on Pikachu's peripheral view, opting him to turn and wave a hand at her.

"This is Misty, she's going to be… joining us-" Pikachu scrunched his nose in disbelief, rolling his eyes. "In our Journey. Misty, this is my starter, Ash."

"He's a Pikachu!" Misty's eyes were thrown up in surprise, eyes turning to glare at him. "Where the hell did you get such a different colored Pikachu? And my  _ ass _ , your partner doesn't know any electrical moves."

"I got Ash," He sniffed at her. "from Professor Oak. I was meant to get a different starter but  **my** lil guy found me first. And yes, as far as I've seen, he hasn't used any electric type moves."

She glared at him, tapping her foot impatiently. Ash glancing between the both of them with wide eyes.

"Prove it!"

Pikachu rolled his eyes, flipping open the pokedex still in his right hand.

" _ Hello, I am Dexter, Pokedex to Pikachu Ketchum. Pikachu is a beginning trainer from Pallet town, his regional professor is Samuel Oak. His Starter Pokemon is a Pikachu nicknamed Ash _ ."

Instantly, he could see the cogs turning in her head, a snort echoing from her mouth.

"Your name...Is Pikachu?"

"And your name is Misty, I don't see how that correlates." Pikachu snapped, instead of continuing the conversation he turned to point the Dex at Ash.

Ash perked up, ears flying into the air as he curiously looked at the Dex, leaning on his hind legs to sniff the device. Pikachu felt his anger fall, instead smiling at Ash.

A soft red light flashed, beeping and scanning the dark haired fur ball. Ash squeaked, leaning back and waving both paws as if trying to catch something.

The pokedex beeped again, a flash of code running through before a picture of a yellow pikachu with tufts appeared on screen.

" _ Pikachu, the mouse pokemon, Cave variant, an electric and fighting type. Cave Pikachu look very much like our standard Pikachu in the wild, the main difference being longer fur and a slightly darker shade of yellow. Cave Pikachu tend to light up in the dark. It is unknown as to why they have developed a fighting type subset. _ "

Pikachu blinked, bringing his Dex closer and tilting his head.

"Cave...Pikachu?" He hummed, pressing a button and letting the pokedex continue its entry.

" _ Starter pokemon, Pikachu, nicknamed Ash. Ash is currently level 15 with the ability Inner Focus. His current move set is Focus Punch, Aura Sphere, Mach Punch, Low sweep, Tackle and Fake Tears. Please note that the discoloration of this pokemon's fur means it could be shiny. _ "

Pikachu tilted his head, eyes scrunching as he glanced at the screen and at Ash. The Dex beeped, screen going black for a second before an image of Ash appeared. But Pikachu was too busy looking at his buddy in surprise.

"Ash how the… you're too tiny to know these moves bud!" Ash peeked up, sheepishly rubbing his cheek.

"Cave… Aura???" Pikachu glanced over at Misty, who seemed to be as white as a sheet, eyes staring at his pika partner.

Pikachu couldn't help but sneer, grinning rather impishly as he rubbed his partners head.

"Oh would you look at that!" Pikachu cooed, earning delighted giggles from his partner. "He doesn't know any electrical-"

There was a pause and Pikachu glanced down at Ash, the black fluff ball pouting and butting his hand.

"Ash."

"Pi?" Big brown eyes peaked up at him, faaaar to innocent.

"Bud, why  _ don't _ you know any electric moves."

There was a pause, and Ash tilted his head. With slightly pursed lips, the mouse shrugged his shoulders. Pikachu chuckled, rubbing the gentle fur on his partner's head.

"Okay, first in order is we'll teach you something electric, like uh… like Thunder or something."

Ash seemed delighted at the thought, his zig zag tail wagging in excitement as chitters flew from his mouth. Pikachu grinned.

Almost as soon as that happened, the lights went out.

Ash squeaked, and in an instant his body began to glow. The dark black fur shimmering a very faint blue, while his ears cheeks and back marks glowed white blue and pink. Pikachu blinked and glowing brown eyes blinked back.

"You do glow… huh."

"What the hell," Misty murmured from his side. "Why did the lights go out?"

It became instantly ominous, the sounds of scuttling echoing throughout the dark center. Both humans stayed around Ash's gentle glow, that barely lit up the immediate area before them.

"Lets… Lets go check on Nurse Joy." Misty harshly bumped Pikachu's shoulder, tilting her head towards the direction of the back room.

Ominous chanting picked up, unnoticeable at first before it steadily grew Louder. Ash perked up, ears swiveling.

"Pika pika chu chu, pika pika chu chu." Ash sang quietly, pausing before glancing at Pikachu with a tilt of his head.

With sweaty palms, Pikachu reached over and gripped the edge of the stretcher, slowly wheeling his way towards the counter as Misty walked behind him.

All too soon there was a crash, and the three of them shrieked in surprise as the roof began to smoke around them. Misty slapped a hand against his back, forcing him and the stretcher to move forward as fast as they could. The double doors swung open with a loud thunk startling the already frazzled Nurse and Chansey.

"Nurse Joy the lights-"

"Yes yes I know about the lights," She waved a hand cutting Misty off. "We have our Pika power to keep them running."

She waved a hand to a small area to the side. Four Pikachu stood around a group of ten Pikachu running on a treadmill, chanting easily.

"Pika pika chu chu, Pika pika Chu Chu."

Pikachu stared at them, feeling Ash grip his arm for a second. He quickly realized it was the same chant Ash was singing not a few moments earlier.

"There isn't a power outage outside, meaning this was deliberate, so I've sent all the pokemon through another center. Right now you kids should head out. Now."

They startled, both kids turning to face the Nurse, who stared at the doors with Chansey and two Pikachu by her side.

The nurse glared out into the double doors, holding a hand up as the Pikachu's growled, sparking ominously while Chansey slammed her hands together. A soft glow surrounded the two Pikachu, but they ignored the golden aura to crouch lower.

"Someones here to cause Trouble." Nurse Joy’s voice went low, and with that it seemed that everything stopped.

Finally, Pikachu heard a low rumble, straining his ears to hear the pounding of footsteps. Like a flash, the double doors slammed open, startling Ash into his arms where he squealed in surprise as Misty jerked back.

There stood two… oddly characteristic adults. One with long pink swirled hair and the other with purple? Hair.

Beside them were two poison type pokemon, one a round ball and the other a snake like creature as a cat pokemon stood between them.

They… weren't threatening if Pikachu was honest, but they came in numbers. As quietly as possible, he hoisted his pokedex and scanned the new pokemon as the people began to shout eccentrically.

"Did someone say Trouble!?" The pink hair woman shrieked.

"Make that double-" The Blue man grinned, pulling a rose from his shirt.

“To Protect the world from Devastation!”

“To Unite all people within our Nation”

“To Denounce the evils of truth and Love!”

“To Extend our reach to the stars Above!”

“Jessie-”

“James-”

“Team Rocket- blasting at the speed of Light!”

“Surrender now- or prepare to Fight!”

Pikachu starred in slack-jawed disbelief, eyeing Misty who looked just as confused and surprised. Then to the Nurse, who looked more than just mildly annoyed.

"Meowth, that's right!" the Meowth grinned, spinning over dramatically.

Pikachu instantly glanced around the room, leaning close to Misty.

"Are...Are we being punked?" he whispered softly.

"I...Hope So?" She gave him a side glance, her face contorted into a wince.

The Meowth turned to them, eyes wide and undeniably creepy looking. They shivered, huddling closer together as they stepped back.

And without a thought, the Meowth's eyes dragged to Ash, who tried his hardest to melt into Pikachu's shirt.

"And what pokemon is dat!?" The Meowth stepped forward, earning the attention of his apparent teammates.

Pikachu felt the air catch in his throat, arms tightening around his partner. The Cat pokemon grinned, the two humans behind him creeped forward as well, eyes intently trained on Ash.

The tiny mouse hissed, fur spiking as blue sparks began to flow around his frame, eyes trained on the Meowth and the two poison types creeping in.

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" Nurse Joy cried, her Chansey rushing forward and standing firmly in front of him.

His head jolted, turning to stare at the nurse as her two Pikachu raced forward and screeched to a sudden halt in front of Chansey. The sudden appearance of the two mouse pokemon had the oddballs looking down at them cross eyed. The two Pikachu sparked, electricity coursing across their spiked fur.

Soon the area around them quickly turned white.

“PIKACHUUUUUU!”

The two humans and three pokemon panicked in place, arms shooting out wildly before electricity enveloped their bodies. Loud yelps echoed the room, as their bodies spazzed oddly. The three pokemon let out shrieks of pain, Koffing screwing its eyes shut as smoke began to bellow out its body.

Pikachu stared in disbelief as the smoke sparked into a fire, igniting all the smoke in the immediate area and exploding. The wind from the explosion forced him to take cover behind the Chansey as the building shook.

His head snapped up hearing the ceiling crack and as the screams began to form into tangible words. The two humans flew across the sky with two unconscious pokemon and one burnt Meowth, large comical tears falling from their eyes.

“WE’RE BLASTING OFF FOR THE FIRST TIME!!” they’re voices slowly faded out, a small ping echoing in his head.

Pikachu stood there, staring at the pitch night sky searching for them before, slowly dragging his head down to the nurse and Misty.

Misty stood wide eyed in shock, eyes darting everywhere to the broken debris and the large hole in the ceiling. Whereas the Nurse, tiredly looked at the broken Ceiling, her two Pikachu pouncing to her side, chittering and glancing at the ceiling.

"First my door and now my ceiling, what a night.” The Joy rolled her neck, before looking at her pokemon and back at the two trainers and tiny black fur ball. “Well, now that that’s over. You two should get some rest.”

Ash chittered, leaning forward in his arms to stare wide eyed at the nurse. The pink haired lady rolled her eyes fondly, leaning down to pluck the small suction cups off his cheeks.

“And you,” She poked the mouse on the nose, earning a small whine. “You should be good for now, however I do want to check on you in the morning to be sure you’re generating your electricity properly.”

Pikachu nodded mutely, hoisting Ash upon his shoulder where the mouse squeaked tiredly. The Nurse ushered them out, handing them separate keys as the myriad of Pikachu’s squeaking and waving goodbye to them.

Ash cuddled into his neck, a loud yawn echoing his tiny body just moments before Pikachu collapsed onto his bed.

Morning came quickly, the bright sounds of Pidgey and angry sounds of Spearow startled pikachu awake, eyes blearily blinking as the sun's rays peaked through the open window.

He stumbled out of bed, nearly tripping over his own bag before making it to the nearest bathroom. It took him a few minutes to really wake up completely, splashing cold water on his face before heading back to the bed, where his tiny black haired starter laid spayed out and snoring semi loudly.

“Ash, buddy, wake up.” Pikachu flicked his hand towards Ash, the water previously clinging to him dropping onto the mouse’s face.

Ash groaned, eyes opening blearily and glaring at him, tail twitching. Pikachu grinned, slightly smug.

“Come on pal, it’s officially day one of our Journey.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading!!
> 
> -Maiden Out.


	3. New Pokemon and a Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That's when Ash, adorable little black fur ball that he is, came rushing towards Pikachu with the pokeball in his mouth. He began chirping, spinning in tight circles and kept raising the ball high, like he'd done something…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's when Ash, adorable little black fur ball that he is, came rushing towards Pikachu with the pokeball in his mouth. He began chirping, spinning in tight circles and kept raising the ball high, like he'd done something…

Misty was annoying.

That was all Pikachu could think of as she solemnly trailed behind him, fidgeting at every small rustle she heard.

Ash walked by his side, shooting her curious and annoyed looks. At one point, he tugged on Pikachu's pant leg to point at Misty and shook his head. Pikachu felt his heart ache slightly, his little partner looked so tired and annoyed at this point.

"I know bud but-"

"AIEEEEE!" Pikachu screwed his eyes shut, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

Turning, he watched as Misty scuttled away from some tiny pokemon, it was probably a Caterpie from its green coat but-

Pikachu leaned over, plucking his pokedex from his pocket and pointed it to the tiny blob of cute, Ash curiously peaking over from his spot beside him.

"Caterpie, the worm pokemon. A bug type. For protection, it releases a horrible stench from the antenna on its head to drive away enemies."

The tiny green worm turned, curiously chirping at them as it slithered its way over. Ash, the tiny little sweetheart, met the Caterpie halfway, chirping and cooing curiously.

Pikachu had to hold back a smile when Ash crouched low, wagging his tail like a Growlithe ready to play.

Maybe he wasn't a mouse, Ash seemed to be a mix of a dog or cat. It sure seemed that way with how Ash pressed his face against Caterpie, cooing and chirping in delight when the bug recuperated.

Instead, he dragged his focus back to Misty, sighing.

"Hey can you shut the hell up, you're scaring the Pokemon away." Pikachu grunted, crossing his arms and tapping his foot. “What’s your problem anyway? It’s just a Caterpie.”

"Look, there are a few things I can't stand, Peppers, Carrots and BUGS!" She shrieked the last bit, stumbling back from the Caterpie who began to crawl towards her again.

Ash slumped over, dejectedly dragging his body over to Pikachu and tugging at his pant leg. Leaning over to gently scratch Ash's head, he handed the poor pokemon an unused pokeball.

Ash gripped the ball curiously, giving it a test lick before tossing it to the side. The sudden shine of the pokeball caught Ash’s attention quickly, following the reflective light before he began to chase and pounce on the ball.

Pikachu bit back a smile, he'd have to get toys for all his pokemon eventually.

"I don't see what's so wrong with bug types." Pikachu snorted, giving Misty a bored glare as Ash happily batted the pokeball around. "I mean, a pokemon is a pokemon, and Bug types look really cool!"

Misty bared her teeth, obviously disgusted. Caterpie jumped forward, and with quick feet, she managed to stumble closer to Pikachu, keeping an eye on Caterpie as Ash passed by them when the pokeball came rolling.

"Oh so you'd catch one of those disgusting Beedrill? Or worse! Bug types are gross, disgusting and I'd prefer not having to look at them. At. All!" She stomped her foot, getting more heated by the second.

"Well that'd be kinda hard when your face looks like a bug." Pikachu sneered, sticking his tongue out while Misty's face began to blister red.

"Why yOU LITTLE-." There was a click.

Instantly, the duo looked around confused by the sudden loud click from nowhere.

That's when Ash, adorable little black fur ball that he is, came rushing towards Pikachu with the pokeball in his mouth. He began chirping, spinning in tight circles and kept raising the ball high, like he'd done something…

Oh..

OH!

Pikachu carefully plucked the pokeball from his partner's mouth, letting the mouse scramble onto his shoulders as he casually passed the ball between his hands.

It was heavy, heavier then the ball he had given Ash.

The button was all pronounced, a nice shiny white compared to the dull gray it had been before.

"Wait a second, did your pikachu-"

"Catch a pokemon for me?" Pikachu finished her statement, fingering the band around the ball. "I...i think so?"

In an instant, Pikachu reached for his pokedex, clicking it open and scanning the pokeball. A red beam of light enveloped the pokeball, the pure white button flashing red before clicking back to white.

" **Congratulations, you caught Caterpie. Pokemon registered, Caterpie. A bug type pokemon.** " The Dex beeped, a picture of a Caterpie popping up with some basic stats. " **Caterpie, male, is currently level 3 with the ability Shield Dust. He has the moves Tackle and String Shot.** "

"Huh." Pikachu curled his fingers around the pokeball, raising it a touch bit higher so Ash could take a look. "Looks like you caught us a new partner bud."

Ash chirped, butting the pokeball with his head and nuzzling it. Pulling the ball back, Pikachu clicked the middle button, releasing his new pokemon to look at.

Instantly Misty shrieked, stumbling back quickly. Not that the bug type noticed, instead focusing on his new trainer that was kneeling down. The poor bug looked disoriented and confused, but seemingly pleased with the turn of actions.

Pikachu smiled, reaching over and gently curling his fingers underneath the bug type's chin. Caterpie screwed his eyes shut, tensing immediately at the touch. Gently and surely, Pikachu began to scratch under his chin, giggling as the Caterpie melted into his touch, squeaking his delight.

Ash hopped off Pikachu's shoulder's saddling up quickly next to Caterpie and nuzzling the bug type, letting out delighted squeaks when Caterpie nuzzled back.

Now that Pikachu could see his pokemon side by side, it looked like Caterpie and Ash were roughly the same height. So Ash was beyond tiny moreso than a normal Pikachu…

"Well Caterpie." Pikachu drawled out slowly, gaining the attention of both his pokemon. "I guess you're a part of our team now, how bout it pal?"

Caterpie squeaked, his tiny little nub legs waving excitedly. Pikachu cracked a smile.

"NO-" Misty bellowed, stomping her foot and startling the trio of newbies. "I HAD IT WITH THE BUGS BUT I ABSOLUTELY DRAW THE LINE OF TRAVELING WITH A BUG POKEMON!"

He could feel his eye twitch, face puffing up angrily.

"You have no say in this!" Pikachu barked back, shooting to his feet. "He's my pokemon, and I ain't leaving him just cause you hate him. If you can't travel with MY pokemon then just take your attitude and leave!"

Misty leered at him crossing her arms as Pikachu stubbornly placed both hands on his hips.

The two pokemon cautiously looked at both of them, glancing at each other and shrugging helplessly.

Caterpie began crawling towards Misty quickly, squeaking in question and catching her attention. Instantly Misty's face ran white, and with a sudden jump back, she managed to crawl her way around the bug grabbing Ash on the way. Pikachu blinked, turning as Misty basically ran a few feet behind him in an attempt to avoid his bug pokemon.

"How about this, you can care for that disgusting bug and I'll care for Pikachu here!" she cooed, scratching beneath Ash's chin.

Ash squirmed in her grip, going from absolutely happy to downright miserable in seconds. Tears, real looking tears, sprung to the mouse’s eyes. Unable to move in the ginger’s grip he did the only thing he could do.

"PICHU!" Ash threw his head back, tears falling off his face.

Startled, Misty opened her arms, letting Ash jump out of her arms and onto the floor. As soon as all four paws touched the floor Ash sprinted towards him, crawling up his body and into the crook of his neck. Curling as best he could, he continued to shake and sob.

Concerned Pikachu looked over, glancing at Ash and then to Caterpie who crawled beside him looking just as concerned as he felt. With a small tilt, he picked up Caterpie and placed him on his right shoulder. It didn't seem to matter as Caterpie quickly crawled to his left in an attempt to comfort Ash.

"Again, his name is Ash, Not Pikachu." Pikachu glared at her. "Second of all, don't just grab someone else's Pokemon like that! You really scared him, just cause your afraid of a bug type, of a Caterpie. One of the least intimidating Bug types there is!"

He stomped his foot in an attempt to show her that she was really frustrated. Not that it matters, Pikachu was almost certain his face was blotchy and red at this point.

But her face morphed from guilt to anger in an instant, crossing her arms once more and looking away from him.

"I didn't mean to, it's not my fault that your Pikachu is such a baby!" She huffed. "And I'm not scared of Bug types, I just really hate them and I won't travel with a Bug!"

Pikachu huffed, tightening his grip on his backpack and stomping forward. With Caterpie still on his shoulder, Misty stumbled back and out of his way, trying her absolute hardest to not even be within 3 feet of his bug.

It would have been absolutely hilarious if it wasn't so frustrating!

"Fine then don't travel." He turned around to face her, face still puffed in anger. "Buzz off you jerk!"

"Fine then!" Misty barked back. "Like i want to be with a pair of stupid baby Pikachus and a dumb Bug!"

He ignored the twinge of discomfort spark in his chest, angrily stomping off and ignoring the tears springing to his eyes. His pokemon began cooing in his ears, soft rubbery skin and equally fluffy fur began to rub against his neck and face as he pushed past bushes, leaves and trees. He tried his best to stay near the path, but eventually just lost his way.

When they finally came upon an open clearing, he dropped his bag to the floor, pacing slightly as he continued to replay the fight in his head.

Screw her. A pair of Pikachu his ass.

"I'm not a Pikachu." He muttered, kicking a rock a few feet away.

"Pika~." "Cater…"

Pikachu paused, glancing at the pokemon on his shoulders. Caterpie looked concerned but Ash looked downright miserable, ears falling flat and eyes wide and watery.

He gently reached up and patted both their heads, smiling gingerly.

"Neh...Sorry, I don't like to be referred to as a pokemon just cause my name is Pikachu." Pikachu murmured softly. "It's neither of your faults, she was being… well… she was being a huge butt face over it and I didnt want to be near someone who could say stuff like that."

Caterpie nodded, crawling onto the floor, but Ash stayed on his shoulder, looking at the floor and then peeking up to see if he was looking. Pikachu let out a smile, rubbing his head affectionately.

"Ash, don't worry bout it bud. Like i said, she was being mean over something so dumb." He then gave the mouse a concerned loom. "But i know she freaked you out, you alright there bud?"

Ash bobbed his head, finally crawling down Pikachu's jacket and by Caterpie's side. Like nothing was wrong, both of them began to play with each other.

Pikachu wiggled the backpack off his shoulders, swinging it around carelessly before plopping it to the floor. They had had breakfast not too long ago, and it was still too early for a snack, so maybe some training was in order.

He gripped at his pokedex, popping it open and looking at the levels of his pokemon.

Caterpie needed to catch up, but Ash didn't know how to do anything with electricity.

So training was a thing he should do.

Right?

Pikachu coughed awkwardly, twisting the pokedex between his fingers before holding it out a bit.

"Dexter-" The pokedex beeped in affirmative, its bright screen turning black as a line of white appeared that moved as he talked. "What moves can a Caterpie learn?"

It beeped again, a flash of information scrolling past Pikachu's line of sight and had him drawn closer.

Caterpie, upon hearing his name, wiggled towards him. Ash quickly followed, as they both chirped in confusion.

" **Caterpie can learn a total of four moves at this point in time. String Shot, Tackle, Bug Bite and Electroweb.** "

"Electroweb?" Pikachu raised a brow, startled when the pokedex beeped again.

" **Electroweb, an electric type move in the Special Category. The user attacks the opposing Pokemon in a net of electricity, dealing minor damage and lowering the enemies speed.** " The screen proceeded to show a Caterpie using Electroweb on a dummy pokemon. " **Both pokemon in your current Party can be trained to use Electroweb.** "

Pikachu pursed his lips, an idea coursing through his head.

If both Pikachu and Caterpie could learn that move… that'd be amazing! They could learn off each other and Ash could finally have an electric move in his repertoire of moves. Not to mention, Caterpie could have something for those Flying types, heck, it could even be a surprise attack!

"Alright you guys!" Pikachu cheered, leaning back to look at his pokemon. "We're gonna teach you guys some Electric type moves!!"

Caterpie cheered, wiggling his tiny nubs while Ash pounced off Pikachu's shoulder to paw at the ground, tail wagging excitedly.

"Pi Pichu!" Ash cheered, rolling in the dirt as Caterpie happily agreed, following the oddly dog-like pikachu.

They immediately set to work as best they could. Both pokemon staring each other down in an attempt to learn a move no one knew how to start.

Pikachu himself was unsure, and often looked back at the Dex in an attempt to figure out what to do.

They ended up crowding around the Dex for a full fifteen minutes as an instructional video played, with a human and pokemon talking over or beside each other so both trainer and pokemon understood.

Caterpie was super smart for a tiny pokemon, as he seemed to get the motions of the move down pretty fast. Little webs of electricity already spitting out his tail and sticking to the rocks.

Ash on the other hand…

"C **ongratulations, your Pokemon Caterpie has learned Electroweb."** The Dex chimed out.

Pikachu clicked a button absently, letting the pop up disappear only for it to reappear.

" **Congratulations, Your Pokemon Ash has learned Copycat!"**

"Eh?" Pikachu reached into his back pocket, scrambling to read the message it read. "What's Copycat?"

" **Copycat, a Normal type move in the Status Category. The user mimics the move used immediately before it. It fails if no other move has been used before it.** "

Pikachu blinked owlishly, tapping the screen a few times to get rid of the messages before pocketing his device.

Caterpie seemed to be getting a decent hang at Electroweb, but Ash…

Ash's Electroweb seemed to be on par with Caterpie's, but he didn't know it… did he?

"Neh, Caterpie." Pikachu called out, letting the bug glance at him for a second. "I want you to use String shot for a few seconds and build that up okay?"

Caterpie looked sad, reeling back and shooting some quick string at the tree before it. The difference was astounding, it was clear that Caterpie had a much better mastery at it then Electroweb. Thick string coating the trees in a few seconds flat.

Focusing on Ash, Pikachu watched as the mouse glanced at Caterpie confused. Eyes darting at Caterpie and then the tree. With a shrug of the tiny mouse's shoulders, he reeled back, paws rising before slamming into the dirt as a string of web left his mouth, coating the tree in the same substance at the exact same power.

"Well… it's… it's still a move." Pikachu muttered softly, confusion leaking from his tone.

Still, he made sure to keep Ash practicing.

Which was hard when Caterpie had only three moves, sure they could alternate between string shots and Electroweb, but what about the weirder moves like… like fly? Or pin needle?

Could Ash breathe fire with Flamethrower? Would he burn his mouth?

"CATER-PEEE!" Pikachu jolted up, eyes darting everywhere for his tiny bug friend.

But he was nowhere.

Eyes darted towards Ash, who hastily shot a string shot from his mouth high above the tree that was his target. Tiny paws gripping the sticky substance and yanking as hard he could.

Pikachu’s head darted up, noting a black bob and-

He shrieked in surprise, flailing back as a large bird pokemon slammed into the floor, writhing in agony.

And on top of Ash.

"Pichu!!!!!" Ash let out a wail, blue tears falling from his eyes.

A harsh light of purple surrounded the bird pokemon causing it to shiver as it stumbled back. Caterpie, who was previously beneath their claws darted out, standing protectively in front of Pikachu, if a bit damaged.

Bright black eyes stared at him, training his every movement as Ash dared to try and scramble back.

But the Mouse may have been too slow. With a mighty screech, the bird plucked Ash by his tail and tossed him into the air. Pikachu could only watch on in horror as his friend careened to the floor. The bird had other ideas.

It darted up quickly, too fast for Pikachu to track. Luckily, it seemed to be limited by the thick coating of string attached to its bottom right claw, unable to go any higher than it was previously. With a loud screech, it raised a wing and slammed it down hard and fast. Ash's downward momentum doubled as he plummeted even quicker.

"ASH!" Pikachu shrieked, unable to wrench the growing horror in his throat.

He darted forward, Caterpie hot on his heels.

Ash slammed into the floor hard, the ground puffed up and out, sending dirt and sand everywhere.

" **Congratulations, your Ash has learned Endure.** " Pikachu glanced at the pokedex in his hands.

The dust settled quickly, and Ash stood in the middle of it all, bruised and shaking but awake and seemingly okay.

A quick look up had Ash darting to Pikachu slamming into his arms as he glared at the Pokemon floating downward in challenge.

With a shaky hand, Pikachu brought up his pokedex, keeping an eye on the bird still intent on chasing them.

" **Pidgeotto, the bird pokemon, a flying and normal type. This pokemon is full of Vitality and is often seen circling its territory in search of prey. This Pokemon is level 17."**

The Pidgeotto puffed out, quite obviously proud of its achievements before leering at them. An almost smug look crossing the bird's face.

Pikachu thought long and hard. He couldn't send Ash out with such low health, but Caterpie was severely under leveled for this fight.

Shit-

"Caterpie use string shot and keep it in place, don't try to stay still!" Pikachu barked, throwing a hand out.

The yell startled Pidgeotto enough to let its guard down, as his tiny bug came through and came through fast. Strings of web instantly attaching to the bird's wings and pinning them towards the ground. The Pidgeotto writhed in the string, squawking angrily as it furiously began to nip at the string. Taking a few rough seconds to even break a single band.

With it distracted, Caterpie darted forward a strip of web leaving his tail and surrounding the Pidgeotto in a bright web of yellow. Shocking it in increments and severely slowing down it’s process of cutting Caterpie's string.

"Alright Caterpie, now use tackle repeatedly, we gotta widdle it down bud!" Pikachu called out again, worry coating his voice ever so slightly.

But Caterpie followed through, smashing the bird as hard as he possibly could. Slowly more and more he started to do more damage, just narrowly avoiding the occasional peck Pidgeotto was able to manage here and there.

Ash pounded on Pikachu's chest, chittering and pointing at his belt. The empty pokeballs he had shone in the setting sunlight. And with a start Pikachu realized what Ash needed - no- wanted him to do.

So had Pidgeotto.

With a mighty screech the bird began thrashing much more, managing to knock Caterpie away with a small shove as it managed to unravel the web it was surrounded in. It turned away from them, wings spread wide as it tried it's hardest to take off.

Caterpie darted forward one more, an odd energy showcasing in front of its mouth before it clamped harshly on Pidgeotto's left wing.

The bird screeched, wincing and trying its hardest to wave Caterpie off. Distracted and no longer trying to fly off, Pikachu quickly hucked the pokeball, slamming the orb against the bird's chest.

He waited, with bated breath as the bird disappeared within the edges of his pokeball. Shaking and humming as it struggled to pull the bird under reigns.

And it dinged, falling still.

" **Congratulations, Caterpie has learned Bug Bite.** " The pokedex rang out, words loud against the previously silent area. " **Congratulations, You caught Pidgeotto!** "

"PI PIKACHU!" Ash cheered, rushing over to slam into Caterpie as they rolled around happily.

Caterpie waved his tiny little nubs in excitement, squeaking and squealing in absolute delight.

Pikachu stood, slightly frozen before urging his body to move forward. Picking up the pokeball between his fingers before turning to look at it.

Carefully, he rubbed his thumb across the black band pulsating a very gentle warmth against the pad of his thumb. Smiling slightly, he tossed the ball into the air, catching it in excitement as it fell back down.

"Alright!" Pikachu cheered, holding the pokeball high. "I caught a Pidgeotto!"

"Pi pichu!" "Cater-PEEE!"

He glanced at his two battered pokemon, near panic setting in as he finally registered their condition.

There was no way his Pidgeotto was any better.

"Hey Dexter," Pikachu beckoned his pokemon forward. "How do I heal my Pokemon?"

The Dex beeped as both pokemon crawled forward.

"Y **ou can heal your party en masse via the Pokecenter located in every town with a gym. You can also use potions to heal your pokemon up individually."** Dexter beeped. " **You have four starter potions that are registered to this Dex, courtesy of your sponsored Professor.** "

Pikachu blinked, walking back to his bag and digging through it. Sure enough, there were four potions wrapped tightly in a bundle with some other things he couldn't identify off the bat. Instead, he pulled out the potions he needed, carefully flipping them in his hands as he looked for the instructions.

"Just point and spray?" Pikachu hummed, just as Ash jumped onto his lap to sniff the bottle curiously.

He glanced at his partner, rubbing his cheek gingerly before spraying the bottle on the marks that marred the mouse's body.

Ash cooed, relaxing easily under his touch and ignoring the meticulous sprays until the bottle was all gone. No more bruises and all the unkempt fur was brushed back easily, but Ash looked to be a bit wet.

"Let rest for five minutes before rinsing." Pikachu nodded his head, letting Ash spin in his lap before beckoning Caterpie over and repeating the same process. He still had about half the bottle left by the time Caterpie was done. The small bug lucky enough to avoid getting too injured.

But now…

He stared at the pokeball in his hand nervously. Pikachu had no idea how pokemon caught from fighting would react. Did it even want to stay with him? With a thick swallow he pressed the middle button and out came the exhausted bird.

Pidgeotto gave him a look, and he meekly held up the bottle of potion with his hand. It puffed up dramatically giving him the stink eye.

"I uh… I'm here to heal you?" Pikachu grinned uneasily, shaking the bottle for emphasis.

It stared at him, eyes darting towards his face to the two pokemon resting near him. Like a switch, Pidgeotto’s eyes softened considerably. It carefully maneuvered it’s body closer, mindful for the times he flinched before easing its body down, resting its chin on his knee.

His other two pokemon don't seem to care. They eased off his lap, ignorant, or not caring of the wet spots they left behind, before casually lumbering up to the bird and plopping down, nuzzling into soft feathers without a second thought.

Carefully, he shifted the potion in his hand and gently sprayed any and all wounds he could see. He froze, breath hitching, when the bird flipped over without a sound to showcase the bruises marring its underbelly.

Now that all his pokemon were potioned up, and definitely not going to kill each other, he took his Dex out and pointed it at his new bird.

" **Pokemon Registered, Pidgeotto. A normal and flying type pokemon. Pidgeotto, female, is currently level 17 with the ability Keen Eye. Her move-set contains Wing Attack, Tackle, Gust, and Sand Attack.** "

Pikachu hummed, clicking through the Dex to look at his whole party.

Ash seemed to have raised a single level from all that, now at Level 16, whereas Caterpie soared into a stunning level 12.

"Caterpie is now able to evolve." The Dex beeped, unable to register Pikachu's raised brow.

Ignoring that, he gently dragged his pokemon to the nearby pond, rinsing the potion gently off their skins, furs and feathers with much difficulty before letting them air dry and relax by the now budding fire.

"Neh, what a day." Pikachu hummed, eyes closing slightly.

His Pidgeotto cooed, both Ash and Caterpie following her sentiments.

Pikachu glanced at both Caterpie and Pidgeotto, eyebrows creasing curiously.

"Hey, do you guys want nicknames like Ash?" Ash perked up, squeaking as he pounced to his shoulder, crawling onto Pikachu's head. "Uh… now that i think about it, you two don't know much about me, huh?"

Pidgeotto opened an eye curiously, but Caterpie perked up from his spot on her back, tilting his tiny head to the side.

Pikachu smiled, his body curling in on itself slightly.

"Oops, uh.." He tried to straighten out. "My name is Pikachu Ketchum, from Pallet Town. It's why I gave Ash a nickname, so I wouldn't be calling him Pikachu all the time too. So if you want nicknames I can...”

"Pidgeotto." Pidgeotto crooned, leaning over to push against Ash and nuzzle into Pikachu's neck.

"Caterpie!" The bug quickly crawled up Pidgeotto's body and rested easily on her shoulder area. Butting his head playfully against Pikachu's right cheek, rubbing his antenna against him.

"Pikachu!" Ash cooed, scrambling over to nuzzle Against Pikachu's empty side.

Pikachu felt the words he wanted to say catch in his throat. For years he had been mocked for his name, and even though he couldn't understand any of them. Their small acts did wonders to what most people did.

He tried his hardest to not cry, blinking rapidly but laughing a touch easier than before.

"Thanks guys." Pikachu wiped away nonexistent tears, "That meant a lot to me."

They stayed curled up against him, breathing evenly as the sun slowly began to fall. The rustling of the grass picked up as soft winds blew.

"HYAAHH!"

Pikachu startled up, freezing as soon as a blade entered his field of view, a strange looking character on the other end.

Ash quickly burst into tears, loud echoing sobs screaming in the area. The sound startled the person enough to stumble back, their helmet? Nearly fumbling off their head.

Pikachu took the opportunity and hastily recalled Pidgeotto as he sprinted into the forest, desperately trying to grab his bag along the way.

He missed continuing his trek into the forest and slamming his back against a tree, still being able to view the opening without them seeing him. Deciding to duck behind the bushes as the strange character finally righted himself, looking around in confusion.

"Hello?" The boy called out, looking for Pikachu as he lowered his blade. "I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to startle you that much."

Pikachu tried his hardest to ignore his fast paced beating heart, swallowing roughly and blinking back tears. Ash curled into his side, hissing and glaring at the direction they ran from. Caterpie similarly glared his tiny little eyes a hiss building up in his throat.

Suddenly, Caterpie righted himself, spreading his little nubs wide as he shot string into the air. Surrounding his body as a blue glow began to peak around his skin.

Pikachu and Ash stared wide-eyed, as the glow faded and Caterpie began to change. Turning into a…

A cocoon?

" **Congratulations, your Caterpie has evolved into a Metapod. Pokemon Registered**." his Dex rang from his pocket, slightly muffled.

He ignored it in favor of turning to his newly evolved friend. But Metapod? Seemed to only glare in the direction just above his shoulder.

Finally his friend moved, throwing his entire body forward and towards Pikachu's left.

In an instant Pikachu turned, startled as Metapod slammed into the mystery person sending them throttling back.

Quick as he could, he scooped Metapod and Ash up tightly in his arms, sprinting into the open field to grab his bag. Hastily, he recalled Metapod and hurriedly sprinted into the opposite end of the forest. Maybe in hopes of reaching the trail he had lost earlier.

Instead…

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU MORON!" Misty screeched from beneath him, slamming an open palm against his back. "Geez! If I had known you would slam into me when I came to warn you, I wouldn't have come at all!!"

"Pi CHUU!" Ash broke into tears again, startling Misty long enough for Ash to slap her with a tiny furious paw.

Completely forgetting his prior anger at her, Pikachu grabbed at her hand, stumbling to his feet as he tried to pull her along.

"There's a fucking psychopath with a blade, Misty we have to-" she wretched her hand away from his grasp ignoring his hushed whispers as she rolled her eyes.

"He's not a psychopath you dork." She then turned away from him, back to the open field and waved her hand, beckoning him forward. "Come on, follow me."

Pikachu hummed uneasily, glancing at Ash who was still glaring at Misty, before deciding, uneasily, to listen to her.

The boy from before stood uneasily in the middle of the opening by the fore. His blade sheathed against his back and his helmet now back on his head.

Misty pointed at the kid, and gave Pikachu an unimpressed look.

"This is Samurai, a trainer, you know...The kind that asks other trainers to battle." She then put a finger on her chin, looking up mockingly. "Oh you know? Like a certain someone from Pallet town."

The boy perked up, clapping his hands together uneasily and a rough almost apologetic smile touched his lips.

"Ah yes, I am looking for a boy from Pallet town!" He pursed his lips. "Though I apologize for frightening you, I did not expect you to scare easily."

Misty began to snicker, but Pikachu gave them both a deadpan stare, squinting at them to debate their stupidity.

"You pointed a blade… to my fucking face...And expect me not to panic.." Instantly, the boy flushed. "Right… and you wanted someone from Pallet town… Why?"

This time the boy grinned, unsheathing his sword and pointing it dramatically at Pikachu again, already forgetting the previous predicament.

"Yes! For I, Samurai, have quested myself into defeating the strongest trainers! The last three that i had battled thoroughly japed me in battle and in an effort to redeem myself, requested one last shot from the last boy in Pallet Town!" Samurai then gave Pikachu an unamused glare, thrusting his katana forward. "My previous opponent said you would be a fairly easy battle considering you were just a Pikachu. I assumed you had a Pikachu in your party, and it looks like I was right."

Pikachu starred in anger. Mouth agape as he tried to form words.

Instantly, he could feel the hot flush of shame rush down his back and tying knots in his stomach. How could they say that to him, about him?

Ash chittered angrily, leaning forward and barring his teeth at Samurai. But the boy gave his mouse an unamused stare.

"And I can see why they say it'd be an easy battle. Your Pikachu cries too easily, it's nothing but a baby. A weak pokemon for an equally bad trainer. Who can't even train it properly enough to put it in a-"

Ash reeled forward, grabbing the very edge of the Katana with a snarl, startling Pikachu out of his own misery party.

Panic set in as the mouse grabbed it with both paws and with a shriek a jolt of blue circled his body and focused on his palms. The jolt turned into a bright blue ball, that knocked the Katana aside and made a small crater into the floor. Ash glared a second longer, nodding his head and licking his paws almost casually. Ignoring the stare of the Samurai boy and Misty.

But Pikachu blinked.

"Ash, you didnt cut your paw did you?" Pikachu managed to blurt out, trying his hardest to ignore the other people there.

Ash turned to him, annoyed look gone in an instant as he proudly showed off his two paws, opening and closing them to prove that there were no cuts.

"Pichu!" Ash purred, leaning over to nuzzle Pikachu as he ran his tongue across Pikachu's temple.

"Okay, okay, thanks bud." Pikachu snorted out, gently poking the pokemon before he dragged his attention back to the Samurai picking up his blade. "Listen, Samurai? I told you not to point that thing at us, I don't appreciate it. Secondly, you don't know anything about me, Yes my partner, ASH, gets frightened easily, but that doesn't make him weak! So you can buzz off, I'm declining your offer to a battle."

The boy dropped his sword in surprise, staring wide eyed at Pikachu. Misty similarly looked shocked, shaking her head to look at the two.

"Your seriously going to deny a battle against another trainer?" Misty glanced at him like he grew a second head. "You're kidding, right!?"

"Look, I don't care if there's some kind of code or whatever, I don't want to battle some bully!" Pikachu stomped his foot, slamming his hands to his side. "If he had asked me like a normal person and didn't insult me the whole way I may have accepted, so yes, I am denying a battle!"

Samurai yelped hastily rounding around to place a hand on Pikachu's shoulder. Not that Ash let him, his tiny little furball baring teeth at the other trainer. The boy hurriedly snatched his hand back, hands open to show he meant no harm.

"Please, I mean no offense, I'm merely stating what I see." Samurai explained quickly. "Please a duel, a one on one duel if you would."

Pikachu glared as Ash sniffed at his side, he took a step back and sighed.

"I'm gonna get harassed no matter what I say or do right." Pikachu snorted. "Fine, but a one on one battle only."

"With two pokemon yes!" Samurai quickly lunged to the other half of the open area, ignoring Pikachu's denial.

Misty grinned, less cheeky and more in relief as she stood in the middle. She raised her hands in the air and gave both trainers a leveled glance.

"Alright, this is 2 one on one battles between Samurai and Pikachu. No substitutions are allowed!" She jumped back both hands slamming down her sides. "Begin!"

"Pikac-" "Go Pidgeotto!" Pikachu yelled quickly, cutting off Samurai's surprised shout.

His bird quickly showed up in a preen of grace, cooing easily before following it up with a challenging caw.

Samurai grinned and Pikachu found himself at a loss. Without a word, Ash quickly pulled out Pikachu's Dex and pointed it at Pinsir, letting the robotic voice speak out.

" **Pinsir the stag pokemon, a bug type. Pinsir grips its prey in its pincers and squeezes hard! It can't move if it's cold, so it lives in warm places."** The bug type growled, odd piano like teeth tilting in and out of its open maw, its pinchers clicking aggressively.

Distantly, he could make out Misty’s muffled shriek.

"Okay, away from the claw head, got it." Pikachu breathed out. "Pidgeotto lets start this off with a sand attack!"

"Dodge it and use tackle!"

Pidgeotto rushed forward, claws digging into the dirt and whipping the sand up as she dragged her body high. Narrowly missing the pincers and needing to right herself quickly.

"Focus Energy!" Samurai barked, waiting for something.

Pikachu watched as the bug type stood in place a blue energy surrounding its arms and crawling down its body. The bug was stationary, it probably couldn't move if it wanted to finish it.

"Quick! Use Gust!" Pikachu shot out a hand, eyes tracing the bug.

Pidgeotto cawed, flapping her wings in steady easy beats before a gust began to build.

"Tackle!" Pinsir rushed forward, narrowly missing the flying type attack, and headed straight for the low flying Pidgeotto.

"You use tackle too!" Pikachu cried out, panic settling in his chest.

She swerved in mid air, doing a fancy flying somersault to gain some sort of speed and dashed with equal fever towards the bug.

And Pikachu realized his mistake.

"NO WAIT!" "Vice Grip now, Pinsir!"

It was far too late to swerve, his flying type bracing for impact as the pinchers clung tight around her body.

Pikachu watched on in horror as his pokemon went limp, swirls appearing on her face as Pinsir easily let her fall. He ignored the words being tossed about, running straight for his pokemon who was laying there unconscious.

Carefully lifting her head, Pikachu watched with relief as she very warily opened her eyes, disappointment clear on her face.

"Thanks girl, you did an awesome job." Pikachu grinned uneasily.

Pidgeotto cooed, closing her eyes as Pikachu recalled her humming his dismay.

"Pi-Pichu!" Ash snarled only to watch as the Pinsir brushed him away easily.

Ash growled louder, fur spiking up before he turned to Pikachu.

"You wanna fight bud?" The thought made him nauseous, he had seen Ash fight and so far… It wasn’t very good in the mouse’s favor.

To his surprise, Ash shook his head and pointed at the remaining pokeball on his belt.

"Metapod." Pikachu unclipped his second pokeball and nodded at Ash.

With a toss, he let his own bug type out. He had learned a new move, no?

"Metapod! Come on out and use Harden!"

His green bug came out in a brilliant flash of light, and with a white sheen began to grow glossy.

Samurai's eyes narrowed, and with a flick of his hand Pinsir charged.

"Use Vice Grip!"

"Again, Harden!" Another brilliant white sheen.

Pinsir managed to grip Metapod in his claws, prompting Pikachu to sweat slightly. That move took Pidgeotto out in a single shot and-

The pincers snapped.

He watched wide eyed as Pinsir stumbled back, the bug whining and groaning before falling flat on its back.

"Pinsir is unable to battle, choose your next pokemon." Misty called out, suspiciously high pitched in her tone.

"Ah-" Samurai blinked dumbly, calling back his pokemon in silence. "Metapod, go?"

And like that another green bug came out, looking awfully similar to his own Metapod.

"Harden!" "Use Harden!"

The two glowed white, a glossy sheen encasing their bodies.

"Oh come on…." Pikachu muttered, watching as the duo just held up hardens over and over and over.

"Pikapi." He glanced at Ash, his tiny pikachu partner puffing up his cheeks dramatically and pretended to spit.

That's right, didnt pokemon keep their moves when they evolved?

"Metapod use String shot!" Metapod hummed in affirmative, a thick white string pinning the other Metapod to its place. "Alright! Now use tackle!"

"Harden!" Samurai panicked, eyes going wide as Pikachu's Metapod slammed his own repeatedly.

Pikachu excitedly began to jump, unable to contain his excitement.

"Now use Electro-"

Something buzzed and dived between the battlers, and in a flash, Pikachu watched as a Beedrill took his confused and startled Metapod away from them.

Away from him.

"METAPOD!" Pikachu hastily reached his pokeball, desperately attempting to recall his partner.

Only for the beam to fall just short of it, the Beedrill dancing out of the way in delight.

"Pi Pichu!" Ash jumped from his shoulder a string shot shooting out towards the Beedrill before dashing forward in a furious attempt to get Metapod back.

Except more Beedrill came, one nearly shish kebabing Ash with its stinger.

Luckily his partner fell back, missing the pincer with a hiss.

"Ash use-" Instead of Ash listening, he burst into tears, harsh purple lights encasing each Beedrill in the immediate area.

Pikachu blinked, watching the Beedrill stumble back.

"Okay now use Aura Sphere!" Ash darted back, jumping into the air as he conjured up a single aura sphere, a large shriek echoing his throat as he launched it towards Beedrill.

Some of the ones farther back broke out their stride, shuffling back, it seemed to be aiming to hit the ones dead center.

Then it moved.

The Aura Sphere weaved through the other Beedrill aiming for the one holding Metapod.

Pikachu watched surprised, shakily grabbing his pokedex as the Beedrill launched back in surprise.

" **Aura Sphere, a fighting type move In the special category. The user lets loose a blast of aura deep within its body against its opponent. This attack never misses.** "

He blinked, sliding it away from him as it rang out Beedrill's entry.

The Beedrill holding his Metapod hissed, poison sting shooting out its stingers as Ash clumsily dodged, shuffling back with gritted teeth.

Seeing his chance, Pikachu ran forward towards them, surprising the Beedrill and the two trainers behind him.

"Ash use Fake Tears one more time!" Pikachu called, warily glancing at the Beedrill around him.

Ash burst into tears again, trying not to stop as Pikachu ran past him. Instantly, the group of Beedrill flinched, twitching away from both Ash and Pikachu and inadvertently leaving an opening for Metapod.

"Aura Sphere!" Pikachu called, jumping up and gripping his Metapod by the shell.

The green bug stared at him in surprise, eyes tearing up as Pikachu managed to yank him out of the Beedrills grasp.

They both stumbled out of Beedrill's grasp, slamming onto the floor with a harsh thud.

"Driiiiiiii." The Bee pokemon buzzed angrily, head snapping down as its stingers glowed an ominous Purple.

The display was quickly ruined as an Aura Sphere slammed into it, knocking it away and knocking both Pikachu and Metapod back.

"Pikachu! Pichupi!" Ash called, and for a moment Pikachu nearly forgot the second part of his plan.

"Pikachu!"

He scrambled to his feet, holding onto Metapod tight as he rushed back, easily picking Ash up as he raced to the two other trainers. The closer he got, the more he realized they were pulling their hair out, eyes wide in horror.

"Are you Stupid?!" Samurai cried, fear clear in his voice. "Hit the Floor!"

"Pikapi!" "Meta!"

Pikachu twisted back, eyes wide in shock as a Beedrill filled his vision, stinger high in the air ready to strike him.

He was too late to dive to the floor.

Fear lodged itself into his throat, and Pikachu turned away in horror.

Then something moved.

Just as quickly as he turned away, Metapod leaped out of his arms.

" **Congratulations, Metapod has learned Iron Defense.** "

Pikachu could faintly hear the tings of iron defense slowly chip away as Beedrill struck hard and fast in a flurry of swipes. He was surprised that Metapod could stay in the air for that long…

Protecting him…

There was a crack and the Beedrill fell back, as Metapod fell down.

Into his arms.

"Metapod." He ignored the screams of the trainers behind him, he ignored the buzzing of the Beedrills heading to him.

He ignored Ash clawing at his arm to see his friend.

All Pikachu could see was the ugly gash running down Metapod's shell. Its eyes an unnatural white as it laid lifeless in his hands.

His first pokemon.

"Metapod." He whispered again, shaking the shell lightly, the weight heavy against his arms. "Metapod, Metapod!"

Tears welled in his eyes, blurring his vision as his pokemon refused to move. His lip quivering in horror and disbelief.

Not his friend. Not Metapod.

What was he gonna tell Pidgeotto? The Professor? His mom?

For a short time, the bug and the bird and the mouse had been with him, Pikachu couldn't imagine his life without any of them, and now…

"Meta-"

" **Congratulations, your Metapod has evolved into a Butterfree.** "

Pikachu jerked up, staring unblinking as a bright flash of white encased Metapod's shell, the sound of stretching and moaning echoing in his ears.

Slowly, the shape of the shell began to change into two round bulbs. A small splurge of skin stretching from the back as two little strings appeared from nowhere.

The light show disappeared, white spots dancing across Pikachu's vision as he tried to make sense of the new pokemon before him.

His pokemon… his-

"Buh-Reeeeee!" Butterfree screeched, wings flailing out as he took flight.

Suddenly, Pikachu was intimately reminded of the Beedrill inching closer, as Butterfree's now red eyes shone pink. The same pink glow encasing the group of Beedrill and tossing them back.

He watched in blanketed awe as a yellow and green powder escaped Butterfree's wings, his pokemon diving over the Beedrill and sprinkling the powder over them.

Some fell asleep and others twitched as electricity danced across the skin of others.

Butterfree turned back to him, giving him a happy smile as he dived towards him.

"Butterfree, you evolved!" Pikachu cheered, trying to grip around his partners newly developed wings.

From being barely up to his knee, it was odd to know his pokemon was now a head shorter than he was. Evolving was an odd thing.

"Okay Congrats, but that paralysis won't last forever." Misty cried out.

"Yes. Please let us get out of here before things get worse!" Samurai, quickly beckoned them over, eyes darting to the pile of Beedrill.

Butterfree sneered at them, turning to Ash and chittering at the tiny pikachu.

Ash perked up, cackling gleefully and giving Pikachu a pat as they both faced the group of Beedrill.

Again Butterfree's eyes glowed pink, and after a second, Ash's eyes followed, the pink stronger now as it encased the group of Bugs.

With barely contained glee, both pokemon cried out, thrusting their claw/paw forward and launching the Beedrill further into the forest.

"We're blasting off Ag-aaaaain!!" Pikachu jerked up, watched a flail of Pink and blue hair with a golden blotch of fur launch across the sky.

He hadn't even noticed there were other people here.

Butterfree and Ash turned to him proudly, the bug scooping up the mouse comfortably in his two tiny claws before floating forward.

"Bu-reee." Butterfree cooed, leaning forward to nuzzle his cheek.

Pikachu could still feel the warm hot tears slowly gliding down his face and bit back a chuckle. His adrenaline falling and turning into a numbed acceptance.

"I'm glad you're okay bud."

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So heyo im back, i had this all ready about a day or two ago, just needed some editing and then we had a blackout, lol. 
> 
> But hope you all enjoyed this chapter, feel free to drop a review. I love reading them! :D
> 
> Okay, and with that 
> 
> -Maiden Out.


	4. Battle Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This battle is between Pikachu of Pallet Town and Gym Leader Brock from Pewter City. This will be a two on two battle, the trainer is the only one allowed to switch pokemon. The use of healing items is not allowed." The referee then gave both trainers a look. "Is everyone ready?"

Things were different.

Pikachu could honestly say, it was the best he had ever felt in years.

Which was saying something considering he'd only been in the world for ten.

Still, he glanced at his pokemon, his proud Pidgeotto, his majestic Butterfree, and his tiny little goofball Ash, made those few hellish years a little more tolerable.

_But now-_

"That will be 10 Poke." The scrunchy man demanded, nearly plucking Ash off a rock.

Misty by his side chortled into her hand, definitely amused by the turn of events. Which didn't help. Not in the slightest.

"It's a rock." Pikachu pointed out in frustration, bundling Ash in his arms.

"It's my merchandise, young man." The man grunted. "10 Poke."

"You don't have signs anywhere stating it's merchandise." He stomped his foot, stepping back.

"Don't act like you know how to run a business." The man shook his head, obviously exasperated. "You stepped on my merch!"

"I _DO_ run a business." Pikachu snarled. "My Family does! I've been plenty alone in our restaurant and our Mini Mart running it as smoothly as I could, so I sure as hell know how to tell people the difference in merch and what they shouldn't touch!"

"It's different in Pewter!" The man insisted.

"Tauros Crap!" He huffed, turning swiftly and walking away.

Pidgeotto and Butterfree chortled, at least, Pikachu thought they did. Odd squeaks and caws that sounded like cackling.

Ash wiggled his body, squirming his way to the top of his shoulder before handing him a tiny rock.

"You little thief." Pikachu chuckled, rolling the odd round stone in his palm. "Is this why he was asking for the poke?"

Ash was deceptively innocent, running his tongue across his arm almost smugly.

More caws and squeaks.

_Great._

"You own a Restaurant?" Misty apparently had kept up with his pace, nearly startling him out of his skin.

After the whole ordeal with the Beedrill, she had been a complacent companion. This, however, was the first time she was talking to him with interest. It was the first time ever that anyone was interested in his life granted, but it was a surprise nonetheless.

"Oh uh," Pikachu floundered for a moment, looking away. "Yeah… yeah, my mom and dad owned a restaurant long before I was born, and once I was, my papa decided that owning a mini mart part deli would be a good idea too. Technically my papa owns the mart and my mamma owns the restaurant… but I've had experience in both."

"Must be nice to have your parents trust you to run it alone even though you're super young." If Misty sounded a bit bitter, Pikachu pretended not to notice.

Instead, he turned to her, grinning impishly.

"Yeah right, I helped them run it and they taught me the ropes. My mom and dad would kill each other if they found out they let me run either one alone." His impish grin fell into a sour smile. "This year I would have run the restaurant alone for awhile, but mamma wanted me to try new avenues first."

"She just… let you go on a journey?" Misty poked his shoulder, pointing at the pokecenter not a few feet away.

Pikachu nodded, apologetically returning both Butterfree and Pidgeotto.

"My mom said I should always try something new and my dad agreed." Ash cooed in his ear, and Pikachu reflexively reached up to scratch the mouse's chin. "I was never a fan of Pokemon battling or training. Not like the hardcore trainers, but my mom thinks it'd be a good experience so I'm entering the league this year. Try it out you know?"

Misty's face twisted in displeasure at the last words, giving him a critically unsure look. Like she doubted he could do it.

"I don't think that's a good idea." She shook her head. "The League Challenge is super hard, and no offense, but none of your pokemon are up for it."

And now Pikachu looked at her in angry disbelief.

"Misty, I'm aware, doesn't mean I can try. You just sound like a dick trying to push me away from something." He brushed past her, purposely bumping her shoulder. "Besides, what's the point in going on a journey if I don't at least try?"

He breezed past her, heading to the front counter and trying to reach the bell that was a bit too far for him to reach.

Ash crawled down his arm, sitting on his hand comfortably before reaching his stubby little paws over to ring the bell. Without moving the mouse twisted in place, giving him a loud happy squeak and rang the bell again.

Pikachu stared in confusion, watching his starter squeak and hit the bell.

_Ring_

_Squeak_

_Ring_

_Squeak_

_Ring-_

A Chansey appeared, gently moving the bell away from Ash's paws as a Nurse tiredly walked in, a strained smile on her face.

Pikachu blinked.

"Sorry Ms. I didn't really think that Ash would be so amused by your bell." Ash squeaked, waving at the Joy as he rushed to settle himself on Pikachu's shoulders.

"It's quite alright." She waved a hand. "Young Pokemon tend to be quite amused by the sound." The Nurse straightened her back, smiling brightly at him. "My name is Nurse Joy, how can I help you today?"

And now Pikachu blinked confused.

"Ah-," Now that he was paying attention, she looked awfully familiar. "Didn't I see you back at Viridian? You had the Chansey and a bunch of Pikachu."

And now the Nurse laughed, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry Mr. Ketchum," She bowed. "You must be talking about my older sister. You'll find that any Nurse Joy you meet looks quite alike. Its genetics."

Pikachu chuckled uneasily, nodding.

An entire family tree that looked just like you?

Creepy.

"Cool." He drawled slowly, scratching his head. Ash mimicking his actions. "I was wondering if I could get a room for the week? And if there was a gym in this city?"

"Of course, we have a few single rooms open currently!" Nurse Joy stepped to the side, fiddling with a computer that was just out of his view. "As for the gym, we have the Pewter city Gym just north of here, hard to miss. Can I assume you're registered to take on the challenge?"

Pikachu leaned over the counter, tippy toeing to see the edge of the computer. Ash chirped, standing a bit higher and scrambling to the top of his head to see better.

"Registered?" He grabbed the key she handed to him, looking at the odd rock like ornament sticking to the key.

"Your room is A2, just down the hall to the left." She pointed at the hallway just behind her, clasping her hands and nodding at him. "If you're planning to take the league challenge, you'll need to be registered in the system in order to fight, however, you can still battle gym leaders without that. But you won't be able to join the league without registration, even if you do get all qualifying badges."

Pikachu nodded humming slightly, glancing at Ash who was now leaning over his head to glance at him.

"Whaddya think bud? You wanna give the league a go?" Ash squeaked, awkwardly nodding his head. "I guess I'll get registered, do you need anything?"

"Yes I'll need your Pokedex or ID." She tapped at the computer, reaching over to grab the red device Pikachu offered. "I have a few notes we give to traveling trainers registered to challenge the league battle, care to listen?"

"Yes please." Pikachu nodded his head

"League trainers can battle any gym registered in the leagues formal list." The Nurse paused, opening his Dex, clicking a few buttons and pointing at the screen as she handed it back to him. "You'll see every gym and city associated with the league registered on that list."

"What's with the Gym with stars on it?" He turned and pointed at the first one he saw, The Cinnabar Gym.

"Those are Gyms that are registered as the top eight, some of the hardest challenges out there." She grinned, winking. "Pewter is considered the lowest ranking top Gym."

He hummed, flicking through the list and nodding.

"Any Pokecenter you visit, will provide you free care for your pokemon. The bigger the severity, such as surgery, may cost out of pocket, but overall no money will be involved in your pokemons care." Nurse Joy held up a hand. "Rooms on the other hand are different, they're not entirely free, but the League understands it's better sleeping in a bed than camping. If you plan to sleep in a center with a gym you plan to challenge, you can beat the gym to get a free week to room. So if you stay here for three weeks, and beat the Pewter City Gym, the league will pay for one week and the center will only charge you for the two extra."

He blinked, grinning.

"Do trainers really stay here for three weeks?" That seemed odd to him, why wouldn't they travel?

"Some do, others manage to beat the gym and rest for the week before traveling again, others stay for as long as they can to beat the gym." She leaned back, clapping her hands. "That's about everything I can tell you at the moment, is there anything else you need?"

Pikachu shook his head, grinning brightly at her.

"Not at all, thank you!" "Pi Pichu!"

Pikachu pulled away, sending her a wave as he ran to his room.

"PokeCenter's are really cool aren't they?"

"Chuuu!" Ash cooed, nuzzling Pikachu's face as best he could.

With a small snort, Pikachu entered the room, glancing around as he set his bag down.

Without a thought, he let out Pidgeotto and Butterfree humming as they settled nicely in the smaller space nicely.

_Well-_

Ash squeaked in delight, clambering up Butterfree and settling on his head, chirping and squeaking something new.

Pikachu grinned, shaking his head and leaning back, fiddling with his Dex as Pidgeotto settled on the bed beside him.

It was a miracle considering how small the bed was, but he didn't bother questioning the logistics.

Instead, he flipped through the settings, very awkwardly navigating back to the page the Nurse had shown him prior.

_There._

Pidgeotto leaned over his shoulder, chirping in confusion as he brought up the details to the top Gyms.

"This?" Pikachu pointed at the lettering, turning to smile at Pidgeotto. "This is information of the top Gyms in Kanto, it's how we get into the league. We gotta get like… eight badges or something to enter for a chance to win."

Pidgeotto let out a whistle, chirping as she rose up. She turned her head, clicking her tongue and chirping again.

Pikachu hummed, waving over Butterfree and Ash.

"The Pokemon League is this big tournament where trainers fight for who is the best trainer out there." Pikachu grinned. "It's also to prove how strong pokemon are. But not everyone can enter, you have to win badges and register to join! I already registered, my mom and pop said it was a good road to try, and there is one of the top gyms here."

Butterfree chirped, twirling on their leg and hopping forward excitedly. Ash clung to their head, squealing in joy.

"So, we might be fighting the Pewter Gym!" Pikachu tapped the screen, bringing up some information. "There's Gym Leader Flint and the Backup Leader Brock. It says they use Rock types but doesn't say which ones. But it's a 2v2 battle. Pretty cool right?"

The trio of Pokemon chirped in response, grinning impishly.

Pikachu fiddled with the Dex again, sighing slightly when the Dex opened an app he didn't really need.

Before he could exit out, the Dex's screen turned black, a line appearing across the screen.

" _Good Afternoon, Pikachu. How may I help you?_ " The Dexter spoke, nearly startling Pikachu out of his skin.

"Neh-" Pikachu shook his head. "Hey Dex, what are Rock Types weak against?"

"R _ock Types are weak against Fighting, Steel, Ground, Water, Grass and Ice Types._ " The Dex brought up small blocky pictures of his team, highlighting Ash's entry and ignoring the other two. " _Currently,_ _y_ _our Pokemon, 'Ash', is the only one capable of taking down a Rock Type. Flying Types deliver half the damage and Bug Type deliver standard Damage."_

Pikachu hummed, slightly miffed at the answer.

"Can Pidgeotto or Butterfree learn any moves that could hurt Rock Types?"

" _Scanning._ " The Dex beeped, a slurry of random names rushing across the screen. " _Pidgeotto has no current moves available to them to defeat a rock type, Butterfree can learn 3 separate damaging_ _g_ _rass_ _t_ _ype moves to defeat a_ _r_ _ock type._ ”

"What are those moves?"

" _Giga Drain, Energy Ball and Solar Beam._ " The three move sets were brought up. " _All three moves are recommended to be learned via TM, however, there is a chance of your Pokemon learning it naturally. This does take quite a bit longer to learn however._ "

Another hum.

"Okay… What moves does Ash have that could help?"

" _Aura Sphere, Focus Punch, Mach Punch, and Low sweep._ " The Dex Beeped. " _Fake Tears can lower the defense of a Rock Type, making it easier for Fighting type moves to break the defense of Rock Pokemon._ "

"That's good, thank you Dexter." The pokedex beeped, falling back into the previous app. "Okay- I guess that means we're training up a bit?"

Pikachu hummed, glancing at his pokemon, and shrugging.

"Or should we try the gym first?"

\-----

Misty blinked, watching as Pikachu walked past her with Ash proudly riding his shoulders.

That sounded like a trainer getting a piggyback ride from their pokemon- didn’t it? Not that Misty cared… yet.

"Hey Pikachu," She raced forward, trying to keep up with his footing. "Where are you going?"

He turned to her, surprise coloring his face before he shrugged, and pointed in some random direction.

"I'm heading to the Pewter Gym, I want to try out this badge." Ash cheered, letting out a tiny war cry.

"You're serious about this." Her face twisted, even when Pikachu gave her an unamused stare. "Why not go to the other towns like Marigold City Gym? Or the Hickoryville Gym? Smaller Gyms and not-"

"Not the top Gyms?" He shot her an amused huff. "Because I'm here, it's close and I'm here. Sides, I get a free week at the pokecenter if I beat the gym! That means I can save up on cash to buy you your bike!"

Now Pikachu looked slightly smug, pinkish cheeks perking up as the near shit eating grin he was giving her.

Misty sighed, shaking her head.

This wouldn't end well.

"Fine, lets go, you're going the wrong way for one. And two you gotta make sure there is an opening for battles."

"Really? Why?" Pikachu paused, following after her as she turned the complete opposite way from where he was going. "Shouldn't they just take the challengers?"

Misty nodded her head, holding her arm out to let some Rapidash riding trainers through. Giving an unimpressed look to Pikachu as he scanned them.

"Rude." She clicked his Dex closed, "But yeah, Gyms usually have a set opening for trainers to join in on, but top Gyms don't adhere to those rules."

"Wow, why not?" Pikachu made a very obvious show of reopening his pokedex. "Sorry Dexter."

"They're top Gyms. They usually aim for showing a trainer that it's not what it's all jacked up to be." she paused, pointing at a 'rock' wall. "Look we're here."

Pikachu perked up, Ash chirping in the same confusion.

And now…

"Uhh.. Why are the words…" He shook his head, looking away to Ash. "You ready bud?"

Ash grinned, the most smug grin he had seen the tiny mouse give.

"Piiiiichu!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait, you're using a Pikachu against rock types!?" Misty stepped in front of him, hands waving negatively. "You can't do that!"

Pikachu grinned, unknowingly copying his starters smug grin.

"I know, but I'll do it anyway." Quickly, the new trainer dashed around her, rushing through the open doors with a vigor he hadn't really shown before.

As soon as Pikachu burst through the doors, he was greeted by darkness.

It didn't last long, as Ash began to glow, lighting up their immediate surroundings just barely. It was enough to walk through anyway.

Still, Pikachu curiously walked in, turning and looking every which way as Misty walked in just behind him. She walked off, ignoring Ash’s soft light and disappeared into the darkness, but Pikachu could hear her steady steps slowly fading off.

"Hello?" Pikachu called out, spinning slowly for a second, "Uh.. I was wondering if I could have a Gym battle? Are you closed? I could wait for tomorrow..."

Ash twitched, turning slowly to stare at something in the dark.

"Pikachu." Ash tugged at his collar, chirping lowly as he pointed at a dark area.

"Who goes there!" A sudden voice booms around the dark caverns, startling Pikachu enough to stumble back.

"Pikah!" Ash snarls, hissing at the area.

Soon enough, there was a single spotlight that centered around the area Ash had been looking at. A Teenage boy standing there as intimidatingly as possible, arms crossed with a frown on his face.

Pikachu blinked, opening and closing his mouth stupidly for a second.

"Uh… I'm here to challenge the Pewter Gym?" Pikachu offered awkwardly. "Are you… Flint?"

The teen huffed in annoyance, snapping his fingers as the entire Gym flooded with lights, nearly blinding Pikachu in the process.

"The names Brock, kid." Brock raised a brow. "You're here for a battle? How long have you been a trainer for?"

Pikachu blinked, glancing at Ash and slowly counting on his fingers.

"The day we started, the three days to Viridian, the two days to meet Samurai… uhhh." Ash chirruped in his ear. "Like… 2 weeks?"

"2 weeks?" Brock seemingly dragged his attention to Ash, tilting his head curiously. "A strange colored Pikachu you have there, has it been with you for 2 weeks?"

"His name is Ash." Pikachu snapped back reflexively, flexing his fingers for a second. "And yeah, he's my starter."

"He's at his cutest stage."

Pikachu grinned, watching Ash crawl onto his chest, chirping loudly, clearly delighted by the praise.

"He can't win."

Ash turned his head to glare at Brock, a hiss already building up in his throat.

"Kachu!" He hopped off Pikachu's chest, landing on the floor with his fur standing on end.

It would have been intimidating, if Ash wasn't so tiny and adorable. Pikachu bit back a smile, instead giving a smirk at Brock as he puffed out his chest.

"We'll see about that- won't we?" Pikachu grinned, pointing at Brock. "I challenge you to a Pokemon Gym Battle!"

Brock huffed, the corners of his lips turning slightly upwards in amusement. Another click of fingers and the floor started to move, startling the two newbies to stare in awe at the floor slowly stretching out and filling with sand.

Except-

"Oh Shit!" Pikachu hissed, scrambling to get on the top platform as Ash clung to his leg with a tiny squeak of surprise.

Brock rolled a pokeball onto his fingers, obviously amused.

"This is your first Gym Match Correct? Do you know that Gym Battles have special rules unlike any other trainer battle?" He rolled his pokeball for a second more, gripping the edges of the ball tightly in his palm.

"I've been learning." Pikachu admitted, tensing as a bar rose out from beneath him.

Slowly, the Pallet trainer gripped the bar, breathing evenly as the cool metal began to chill the skin beneath his gloves.

"We use two pokemon, each? Capiche?" Brock pointed the pokeball in his hand towards Pikachu, holding his gaze.

"Capiche." Pikachu nodded, glancing as Ash who flashed him a grin.

"Trainer!" Pikachu startled again, ducking his head into his shoulders as he stared wide eyed at a new kid standing on the sidelines. "State your name and city and we may begin this match!"

Pikachu floundered for a second, fumbling over his words.

"Uh- My name is Pikachu Ketchum from Pallet Town." Pikachu fixed his collar for a second.

If the referee thought anything weird about his name, he didn't say a word, raising a hand.

"This battle is between Pikachu of Pallet Town and Gym Leader Brock from Pewter City. This will be a two on two battle, the trainer is the only one allowed to switch pokemon. The use of healing items is not allowed." The referee then gave both trainers a look. "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready." Brock straightened his back, never moving his stare.

"Ah, ready." Pikachu nodded, less sure by the second.

"Begin!"

"GO GEODUDE!" Brock yelled, reeling his body back before chucking his pokeball out.

Out came a rock type pokemon that looked more like a boulder with two arms

"Geo!" Geodude grinned, slamming its two fists together.

"Nani…" Pikachu breathed out. "Ah- Ash Go!"

"Pi Pichu!" Ash called out, hopping off the platform dramatically and flipping onto the playing field.

"I see you brought an electric type out." Brock sounded smug. "Good luck, Geodude let's start out with roll out."

"Ash, Fake Tears!" Pikachu called back quickly, watching in awe as the rock type curled up.

"Pi-CHUUUUUUU!" Ash slammed his tiny body to the floor, fake blue tears dropping off his face and surrounding Geodude in a harsh purple light.

It didn't last long, as Geodude quickly clipped Ash's side and stopped the small mouse from his fake tear barrage.

The rock type skidded for a second, turning and intending to strike Ash again.

"Copycat!" Pikachu yelled, throwing his arm in an arc.

"What-!?" Brock started, just in time to watch Ash curl into a ball and quickly slam into Geodude with equal vigor.

Pikachu watched in confusion as Ash managed to keep up his tiny momentum, using his speed to counteract Geodude's obvious weight advantage. Still, the New trainer could easily tell that Ash was getting the brunt of the hits.

Geodude stumbled, skidding in front of Brock with a grunt, seemingly more annoyed than damaged when Ash swung by to give it another hard slam.

"Mega Punch, Geodude!" Brock swiped an arm in front of him. "Knock that Pikachu away!"

Pikachu felt the nerves sweep over him, freezing every nerve in his body.

"Ash, Copy that!" He blurted out, wondering - _hoping_ \- that Ash could accomplish that.

He couldn't.

His momentum was too fast as a curled little ball and slammed right into Geodude's open fist, looking like a pinball for a solid 5 seconds as he ricocheted off the walls of the gym floor.

When Ash uncurled, the mouse looked annoyed and teary eyed, frustration swelling easily in his tiny body as he stomped a foot.

"PikaCHU!" Ash screeched, dashing closer with glowing white paws.

"Mega Punch!" "Dodge that!"

Geodude reeled back, fists glowing white and aiming to hit Ash rather hard.

Except Ash's arm had a sudden glow of blue following after him. The same white encasing his tiny paw.

They both hit each other's fists, clearly at a stable standstill for all of two seconds.

The sight caused both trainer’s to tense uneasily, gripping their respective bars. Pikachu had no idea how Ash could keep that up, considering Geodude had knocked him back not a move earlier.

Then, Ash screamed.

The blue ribbon of power encasing his arm flashed, and before Pikachu could comprehend it. Geodude went careening back, slamming into the edge of the field much to their shock.

The dust settled quickly, showcasing a clearly unconscious Geodude that Brock recalled back.

Except Pikachu wasn't focusing on Brock anymore, giving Ash an incredulous stare.

"Hey Bud, where was that when we fought those Spearow!?"

Ash turned, smiling at him, tail wagging obscenely fast for a pokemon that had literally been tossed about. He was delighted, grinning impishly as the words seemed to register in his ears.

A pause.

Ash shrugged.

"Bud-"

"Onix, come on out!"

Pikachu was forced to hold onto his words, staring in horror at the tall big rock pokemon that was currently towering over some of the bleachers.

Ash squeaked out a challenge.

"Oh dear Mew that thing is huge." Pikachu felt the sweat build up at the base of his neck, twitching uncomfortably as the thing leered at him.

"Onix, Bind!"

"THAT'S RIGHT GYM BATTLE." Pikachu yelped, watching as the Onix quickly darted to him.

Before he could even utter a command, Ash was quickly caught up in his binds squeaking out in discomfort as Onix's body quickly tightened with every movement. Ash wriggled furiously, hissing and wailing in pain with every single shift.

Pikachu stared in horror, biting his lower lip unbelievably hard as he tried to think of a solution.

_Think, Ketchum, THINK!_

"Give up." Brock called out to him, giving him an unamused stare. "While Geodude was a win, your Pikachu is clearly under leveled to fight Onix. He cannot win."

"Don't Patronize us!" Pikachu snapped, anger boiling in his chest. "Ash, Can you hear me!"

"Pika!" Ash wheezed out, hissing when the bids tightened.

"Bud, Fake Tears!" The words spilled from his Lips before he could even think of a strategy.

"That won't-"

"CHUUUUUUU!" Ash sobbed, throwing his head back as loud sobs once again echoed his throat.

Onix didn't move, despite the continuous amount of purple light that seemed to flail around its body. But Pikachu had a tiny idea.

Just a small one really.

"AURA SPHERE!"

Brock scoffed, clearly unamused as his pokemon let out a huff of disbelief.

Ash screeched in anger and pain, letting his fake Tears teeter out as he yowled. A bright blue light encased the bind that he was in, glowing brighter with every octave that rose.

And Onix spazzed.

Its entire body twitched a yelp of discomfort spilling from its maw as it loosened just enough for Ash to break out, bruises covering his body.

Despite that, Ash hissed, using his tiny paws to clamber onto Onix's body, huffing out as he crawled higher and higher. What went from a slow crawl, desperate to stay balanced, ended with an all out sprint, hopping off easily between every boulder that made up Onix’s long body.

Whatever Ash was planning, Pikachu had only hoped it would work, considering he was out of all ideas.

"Finish it, Ash!"

"Throw it off Onix! Use Slam!" Brock yelled.

Onix twisted, gritting its jaw as it reached up with its tail, swiping in an effort to grab Ash.

Bless his tiny body.

Ash was too small to get a grip of, seemingly able to dodge and weave through the attempted swipes before he was right on his head. He jumped up at the top, barely missing a desperate swipe that struck Onix between it’s eyes. Yowling in Pain Onix jerked back, unable to see Ash land on the very tip of its tail, using the momentum to jump higher.

"Ash!" Pikachu stared in awe, watching his mouse twist in mid air, just long enough to build up a charge on his hand, the soft white glow instantly turning blue but Pikachu knew what it was regardless.

_Mega Punch._

Using all the momentum he could, Ash slammed right onto Onix's head, careening them both into the floor before a blanket of sand and dirt covered their vision.

"Onix!" "Ash!"

Pikachu waited with a bated breath, desperate to fan away the sand that seemed insistent on staying. He was tempted to grab Pidgeotto's pokeball when the dust finally settled. The lumbering form of Onix was deathly still, a small moan echoing its throat.

Ash was laying beside it, equally unconscious.

"Ash!" "Onix return!"

Pikachu hopped onto the field, nearly slipping up at the dust as he raced over to his partner, scooping his tiny bundle of fluff closely to his chest. Nervously Pikachu checked him over, noting the bruises and scratches but nothing too major.

Ash didn't squeak back, just lazily leaning in with a groan of pain.

Pikachu smiled, hugging him tightly despite the nerves still flashing through his body.

"You did it bud." He whispered, brushing fingers gently against Ash’s tufts. “Thank you.”

"THE WINNER OF THE PEWTER CITY GYM BADGE IS PIKACHU OF PALLET TOWN." The referee screamed, once again, scaring the crap out of Pikachu.

Brock had hopped off his platform, steadily walking up to the new trainer and held out a hand, a smile touching his lips.

Before Pikachu could blink, he brought out a tiny little trinket, holding it out to him.

"Pikachu of Pallet town, I present to you the Pewter Gym's Gym Badge." The tiny trinket shined in the gym's lights, revealing the boulder shape it was made to look like. "The Boulder Badge."

He handed off the Badge in Pikachu's palm, the subtle warmth of the golden finish was enough to make Pikachu smile.

"Thank you." Ash shifted in his arms.

Pikachu glanced down, watching warm amber eyes open tiredly and glancing around lazily. He grinned, showing off the badge to his partner.

"Look buddy, we got the Boulder badge! You did great!" Ash wiggled, tiredly preening in joy.

Pikachu rose, careful as to not jostle Ash too much, before looking at Brock and bowing.

"Thank you," He repeated, standing up. "I ought to head to the pokecenter and get Ash all healed up. He had a pretty rough battle."

"Mind if I join?" Brock spun a pokeball into his hand. "My partners need a healthy amount of healing after what your Pikachu did."

"I won't stop you." Pikachu smiled.

It was easy to walk out of the gym, Brock barking a quick order to his referee before they exited through a side door. Misty had apparently gone out the front, rounding to the side and quick to catch up. She placed a hand on his shoulder, offering a smile but nothing more.

Oh well, Pikachu still proved her wrong.

"Nurse Joy!" Pikachu burst through the doors, heading to the counter. "Can you heal Ash for me?"

Before she could answer him, or ask any questions, Brock very easily reached for her hands, a love struck look in his eyes that confused the hell out of Pikachu.

"Dear Nurse Joy, the light of my life and the love of my heart. With your gentle hands you can-" The Nurse quickly pulled back a hand and smacked it over Brock's lips, looking annoyed and very much tired.

"Brock, for the last time cut that out, people are actually thinking you mean it." The Nurse rolled her eyes, turning to Pikachu with a bright smile. "Of course Mr. Ketchum, pass over any pokemon that need to be healed and we'll heal them right away!"

She turned back to Brock, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"Alright Mr. Harrison, how can I help you? I'm fully aware your Gym has a Pokemon Rejuvenator. So what gives?" She pursed her lower lip, looking at him unamused.

Brock grinned, losing the starstruck look and leaning on the counter.

"I actually wanted to have a talk with Mr. Ketchum here, about our battle. The first one in Pallet to have beaten me so easily."

She nodded.

Pikachu very quietly handed Ash over to her, ignoring the feeling of impending doom rushing down his spine as She handed him over to her Chansey. Both of them herded behind the counter and into a back room, well out of Pikachu's sight.

Before he could even lean over to see what was happening, Brock laid a hand on his shoulder, vaguely pointing to the cafeteria.

"How about you and me go ahead and talk? If you don't mind of course, I have a few questions for you." Brock gave him an easy grin, but the sight didn't ease Pikachu's concerns in the slightest.

"Well-"

"I actually have some questions of my own." Misty poked him from the opposite side. "There were some things that just aren't clicking right in my head."

"Get it checked," Pikachu blurted out, turning to give her a small unimpressed look before turning to Brock and nodding.

Misty huffed by his side, elbowing him rather roughly and walking past him. With a hiss, Pikachu rolled his eyes, glancing nervously at the nurse's station before reluctantly following along.

They sat at a booth, luckily not too far off and ordered from a menu.

As soon as the waiter left, Brock turned to him, giving him a strange look before leaning forward.

"So… Mr. Ketchum." Brock crossed his arms together. "I was unaware a Pikachu could even learn Copycat let alone Fake tears, not to mention your Pokemons very strange markings and coloring. Did you get it from a breeder?"

Now Pikachu blinked, curiously eyeing Brock like he lost a screw.

"I got Ash," He emphasized for a second, squinting at Brock. "From Professor Oak."

"Did he pull in a few favors or? I have never in my life something as exotic as your… Ash…" Brock trailed off slightly, tilting his head to the side as he winced.

"Not that I know of." Pikachu shrugged, leaning back. "From what he told me, Ash was supposed to be his research topic, but the pokeballs got mixed up and now Ash is my starter." He paused, glancing back at the Nurse's station. "That's all I really know."

Brock hummed and hawed for a second, ignoring the way both Pikachu and Misty looked at him. He huffed, tilting his head up to look at Pikachu.

"Okay, while that doesn't explain much, I assume I have to ask Professor Oak about it rather than you." Brock waved his hand, pointing at Pikachu. "But what about the moves, Mr. Ketchum? I've seen Pikachu use Mega Punch before, but never copycat or fake tears. Let alone that other move… what did you call it- Anna Fear?"

"Aura Sphere," Pikachu corrected, mimicking Brock's position and pointing a finger at him. "As for Copycat and Fake Tears? I don't know, I thought all Pikachu could know those moves, Dexter was the one who told me about it."

Misty's eyes squinted at him in disbelief as Brock's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Dexter? Is that a friend of yours."

Pikachu smiled, shrugging his shoulders and bringing out his pokedex.

"This is Dexter, He's helped me a lot, see?"

With a flick of his wrist, Pikachu clicked Dexter open, unsurprised by his beep. "Hey Dexter, can you bring up Ash's information?"

" _Ash, Male, a Cave Variant Pikachu and an Electric and Fighting Type. Ash is Pikachu Ketchum's starter pokemon, given by Professor Oak. Ash is currently level 18 with the ability Inner Focus. Please note that the discoloration of this pokemon's fur means it could be shiny._ "

"Cave Variant." Brock's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How the Hell…"

"What's with that, by the way?" Misty turned to Brock. "We heard it earlier but we never really figured out what it meant. I've never even heard of Variant oriented pokemon?"

"You have." Brock shrugged, still seemingly in a daze. "The Nidoran line generally consisted of Gender Variant pokemon, evolving into two separate lines based on Gender. Usually Variant pokemon are based on other regions, something Kanto doesn't have due to consistent weather and food options save for one species line. The Pikachu Line."

He paused, and Pikachu had to lean in to urge him to continue.

"Eh… So Pikachu in general are a very odd species in Kanto. First of all, it’s speculated that Pikachu have a branched line, our standard Raichu and an unknown evolution. There's only one of those unknown Evolution in Kanto owned by Lt. Surge, and with only that we can only assume a special cased pokemon." He paused waving his head for a second. "Cave Pikachu, on the other hand, are entirely different. For starters, they only appear in caves, roughly to the same regularity as the fabled Clefairy. Not to mention their sub-fighting typing. Researchers have no idea how it even came to be. I've only seen a handful, but they're under Lt. Surge. That's how difficult they are to find out in the wild."

Brock turned to Pikachu, nodding with a pursed lip as if to say ' _not bad_ '.

"To have a Cave Pikachu that's shiny is a rarity in itself. To have one that already knows a few Fighting type moves at such a low level is a saint in on itself. I would have guessed your pokemon was a Mew more than a rare Shiny Cave Variant."

"I guess." Pikachu shrugged halfheartedly. "I'm just glad I got Ash, he's my stupid mouse."

Brock paused for a second, glancing at him. There was a beat before he threw his head back laughing. Absolutely delighted by Pikachu's choice of words.

"Only you, Pikachu." Misty rolled her eyes, leaning back when the Waiter set down their orders.

"What can I say, I'm a simple trainer." Pikachu pointed a fork at her. "But I wouldn't trade Ash for anything."

Neither trainer seemed keen on following up on it, basking in the near joyous observation.

It didn't take long for Pikachu to finish his meal, practically inhaling it before rushing back to the Nurse's station.

Pikachu walked on an odd situation with Ash perched on the counter trying to get a bell as Chansey pulled away further and further. The nurse walked up, seemingly exasperated at the tiny mouse's urge.

"Ash!" Ash paused, turning to look at Pikachu with a loud chirrup of delight, before pounding across the floor to slam into his trainer.

Pikachu wrapped his arms around his mouse, easing the bundle of nerves he had no idea had begun to build. Pausing in his cuddles, he looked back up to the Nurse, bowing in thanks.

"Thank you for looking at him, Nurse Joy!"

The Nurse smiled, clapping her hand together.

"It's no trouble Mr. Ketchum, your Ash is a little impatient in lieu of all the procedures, however, he seems patient enough to get through them." She paused, tapping her cheek. "Although, I do notice a build up in his electricity. It seems like a steady flow at the moment, but your pokemon does need to release it regularly. Does he not know how to?"

Pikachu shrugged sheepishly, curling his fingers around Ash's chin, getting his partner to stop wriggling enough to purr in delight.

"I don't know. According to my pokedex, Ash doesn't even know any electric type moves. We're aiming to learn some to balance out his move set."

"He doesn't know any electric type moves?" Pikachu squealed, turning abruptly as Brock walked up behind him, seemingly surprised.

"Ah well, yes but no." Pikachu cautiously rubbed the back of his head. "He uses copycat to copy electric type moves but he hasn't been able to… actually use them by himself. I don't really know why…"

"Pika." Ash chirped sadly, ears falling in distress.

"Neh, Ash it's okay!" He patted his starter. "We'll figure it out."

"Interesting…" Brock murmured, turning to collect some pokeballs off the counter. "Maybe one day, when your Ash has learned an electric type move, we can see his output. He's incredibly strong for one so low leveled. Especially for a pokemon whose primary typing isn't even fighting."

"That would be-" The doors to the pokecenter slammed open. "Great?"

They turned, curious at whoever slammed in.

Pikachu wilted.

"Hey Pikachu, isn't that the guy you-"

"Yeah." He cut Misty off, giving her a displeased look.

The Merchant from before walked forward, chest puffed high and staring down at Pikachu. He probably was gonna say something, but Pikachu didn't like people looking down on him.

"What, you here to try and swindle more money from me?" He curled an eyebrow, enjoying how fast the horrible sales person wilted.

"You know this man?" Brock placed a hand on his shoulder, very easily stepping in front of him.

"Not really," Misty answered. "He demanded money from us for… stepping on rocks."

"Not a sound business practice." Pikachu waved a hand. "Now what do you want."

"Pikachu!" Ash demanded equally, glaring at the man.

"I heard you were battling Brock." The man puffed out his chest. "And seeing as your back here, i assume you lost-"

"I won." Pikachu cut him off, shoving Brock's hand back for a second and stomping forward.

The man stumbled back a step or two, surprise coloring his features as the entire place fell silent.

"I won." Pikachu repeated, glaring at him as he showed off his newly acquired badge. "I won thanks to my partner, I don't need you to come here and patronize me like a child. Whatever you wanted to say- save it! I'm not here to be belittled by some merchant trying to scam trainers, let alone someone who knows nothing about me."

"Pika Pi!" Ash grinned, snarling from his perch.

The man blinked, a slowpoke like expression falling on his face.

"I would have offered help-"

"Except I don't want it." Pikachu leaned back, stepping away. "I don't want it and I don't need it."

He turned away, trying his hardest to ignore the surprised stares that Brock and Misty were giving him. Instead, Pikachu turned to the Nurse, nodding his head and walking out. Ignoring the call from Misty to go back.

He didn't need patronizing. He won, he won and he needed nobodies help except his pokemon.

Pikachu shivered, closing the door to his room and shuffling to his bed, collapsing as every ounce of strength he had failed him in that single moment.

A dry shaking heave echoed his body, causing him to curl up in a desperate attempt to ease his pulse.

Ash chirped, crawling off his shoulder and into the little space Pikachu had curled around. Ash cooed, curling into his stomach and nuzzling him.

Instantly Pikachu felt more at ease, sniffling as he brought Ash up, uncurling just enough to curl around his partner, hugging him close to his chest.

"Thanks Ash." He nuzzled his pokemon.

"Pi Pikachu." Ash cooed back, rubbing his rough tongue across Pikachu's cheek.

A small broken laugh escaped him.

He could hear the sounds of Pokeballs opening, barely having the chance to peer over before Pidgeotto laid by his sighed, cooing curiously as Butterfree eased their way on top of him, similar chirps of confusion echoing their throat.

"I don't like being underestimated." Pikachu murmured, closing his eyes when Ash cuddled against his neck. "I don't like it, I really don't like it."

He didn't elaborate but his flying types didn't seem to mind, only settling in with chirps of comfort.

Oh yeah, so far, Pokemon were far better than people.

That Pikachu could say with confidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drawing that Bottom Image was fun there is a better version of it on my Tumblr @Maiden-Arts!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Thank you for reading, this has become an AU that I love a lot tbh XD
> 
> Hope yall enjoyed!
> 
> -Maiden out


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